Omega-3 fatty acids: Panacea or poison for prostate cancer patients?

I’ve seen it happen in my own practice. Prostate cancer patients who were doing just fine suddenly get worse-much worse. Then I discover they’ve started taking some kind of supplement that they weren’t taking before they were diagnosed. It was too big a coincidence not to look into further. What I found is crucial, even life-saving, information that you won’t find on the labels of the supplements you buy in your local health food stores. But it’s information that you need to know, nonetheless.

I know hearing that flax seed may be dangerous seems to contradict everything natural medicine stands for. After all, dietitians and alternative health practitioners commonly recommend omega-3 fatty acids in the form of flax seed oil to their patients to help lower blood pressure, decrease cholesterol, and relieve the inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis.

But flax seed, just like any substance-natural or not-isn’t for everyone.

Nine published studies have analyzed the impact of alpha linolenic acid (ALA)-one of the very substances in flax seed that is thought to be healthful for most people-and have found that it can increase your risk of developing prostate cancer or speed the progression of an existing condition. (There is no evidence, however, that ALA increases the risks or growth rates of other cancers.)

Perhaps the most interesting study was the one published by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health. It involved more than 15,000 physicians and found that the men with the highest level of ALA had nearly a 300 percent increase in their risk of developing metastatic prostate cancer.

I’ve done some laboratory research of my own, and I found that ALA more than doubled the growth rate of human prostate cancers. In fact, it was a greater stimulus than testosterone.

So, after looking at all the evidence stacked against flax seed oil, I strongly recommend that men with prostate cancer shouldn’t use it (or other oils rich in ALA).

You still need safe, effective sources of omega-3 fatty acids

But this creates a problem. While you don’t need ALA, you do need omega-3 fatty acids-they’re essential for maintaining optimum health. If you can’t use flax seed oil or ALA, you need to obtain these essential fatty acids from other sources. Safe, effective sources, that is.

The omega-3 fatty acid we really need is DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and, to a lesser extent, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). DHA is essential for the normal development and functioning of the human brain and the retina. And both DHA and EPA can help protect you from cardiovascular disease and suppress inflammation in diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.

By far, the best sources of these omega-3s are cold-water fish like salmon, herring, and sardines. Why are cold-water fish so rich in EPA and DHA? Well, these particular fatty acids act as natural anti-freezes, and land or ocean plants that grow in cold environments (such as algae) must make large amounts of EPA and DHA to function. The fish that feed on these plants store EPA and DHA in their flesh, body fat, and liver oils.

But make sure you buy fish harvested from the ocean, not farm-raised fish. Farmers usually feed their fish corn, soy, and other grains and legumes, not DHA-rich plants like algae. Consequently, their fat doesn’t have adequate DHA and EPA levels.

A safe, easy solution

If you’d rather get your DHA right from the source, you can get it directly extracted from algae as a product called Neuromins, distributed by Martek Biosciences Corp-oration. Neuromins is very safe– so safe even the FDA approved it as an ingredient for all baby formulas. Neuromins supplements are widely available in health food stores and vitamin shops like GNC, and even in supermarkets like Safeway. You can visit www.dhadepot.com/whereto_buy.htm for a list of participating retailers and specific brand names. A daily dose of 200 to 400 milligrams is sufficient.

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Charles Myers, M.D. is a medical oncologist and the former Director of the Cancer Center at the University of Virginia. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of The Prostate Forum and founder of the American Institute for Disease of the Prostate in Charlottesville, VA. For more information about his clinic and publications, call (800)305-2432 or log on to www.prostateforum.com .