Hips Don't Lie

When it comes to running, the hips don't lie

Is running turning into a pain in the knees? It might actually be the hips that need your attention, according to a sports medicine expert at Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu).

"The knees are usually the victims of the biomechanics that people run with," said Dr. Joseph Chorley (www.bcm.edu/pediatrics/sportsmedicine/index. cfm?pmid=17579), associate professor of pediatrics-adolescent and sports medicine at BCM and Texas Children's Hospital (www.texaschildrens.com).

Are fish-oil pills really as good as advertised?

A flurry of new research on fish-oil supplements is raising eyebrows as well as questions about just how "miraculous" those omega-3 fatty acids really are. "Live long, stay strong," say the ads for fish-oil pills, touting not only omega-3s' familiar heart-health benefits but also mental and cellular protection. But recent clinical trials have reminded nutrition scientists that, after all, the strongest data linking omega-3s and reduced cardiovascular risk come from observational studies:

Fish Pills May Not Be Useful For Heart Patients

Reports from a recent International analysis has proved that patients who are already suffering from heart diseases will not be able to obtain any benefits from the omega-3 fatty acid pills.

Fish Pills Anyone?

Joseph Hibbeln, a researcher at America’s National Institutes of Health, has been looking at the supply to babies of DHA from breast milk and at genetic variation in the ability to produce this molecule from other omega-3s. A study that began in the early 1990s has shown that children who are breastfed have the same range of IQs, regardless of whether they have the ability to make their own DHA. In the case of those fed on formula milk low in DHA, though, children without the DHA-making ability had an average IQ 7.8 points lower than those with it.

Nor is intelligence the only thing affected by a lack of DHA. There is also a body of data linking omega-3 deficiencies to violent behaviour. Countries whose citizens eat more fish (which is rich in DHA) are less prone to depression, suicide and murder. And new research by Dr Hibbeln shows that low levels of DHA are a risk factor for suicide among American servicemen and women. Actual suicides had significantly lower levels of DHA in the most recent routine blood sample taken before they killed themselves than did comparable personnel who remained alive. More worryingly, 95% of American troops have DHA levels that these results suggest put them at risk of suicide.

America’s department of defence has taken note. It will soon unveil a programme to supplement the diets of soldiers with omega-3s.

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