DrCainsfastfacts

Television -- too much and you'll go down the tube! Television viewing in childhood and adolescence is associated with poor educational achievement by 26 years of age. Excessive television viewing in childhood may have long-lasting adverse consequences for educational achievement and subsequent socioeconomic status and well-being.

with extra baggage! Television viewing in childhood and adolescence is associated with overweight, poor fitness, smoking, and raised cholesterol in adulthood. Excessive viewing might have long-lasting adverse effects on health.

Fish for your Brain The Seychelles Child Development Study (SCDS) has been longitudinally following a cohort of over 700 children enrolled in 1989. Their mothers consumed a diet high in fish during pregnancy. Repeated examination of the SCDS cohort at six different ages through age 11 years has shown no pattern of adverse effects........The Seychellois diet contains about 10 times more ocean fish than is typically consumed by US citizens. Our primary focus on IQ should further inform growing scientific interest in the analysis of the risks and benefits of fish consumption on overall cognitive ability. The good from Omega 3 oils may outweigh the bad from methyl mercury However, ongoing epidemiological studies of heavy fish consumers of the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean do not reveal adverse effects. To the contrary, the results of some developmental tests that were conducted on prenatally exposed children indicate beneficial outcomes that correlate with mercury levels during pregnancy. This article discusses the potential role of micronutrients in fish as a plausible explanation for these findings.

NEW! A recent pilot study in the journal "Nutrition"

13 July 2007 looked at the effect of High Dose Omega 3 suplementation given in the form of EPA/DHA concentrate (nearly 16g total--11g EPA, 5g DHA) for patients with AD/HD. Although the sample size was small (9 patients) and no control group was used, the results were very suggestive of a benefit in AD/HD core symptoms and oppositional behaviors when plasma levels of Omega 3 fatty acids were raised to achieve an AA:EPA ratio (i.e. Omega 6:Omega3) reduction from a baseline of 21 to 6. Although prior studies cited in the literature have not found significant benefit of Omega 3's in AD/HD, none of the prior studies involved giving a dose of Omega 3's nearly as high as in this pilot study. The author's were attempting to duplicate the AA:EPA ratio in the Japanese population, or between 1.3 to 3. Although further investigation and a double blinded trial will be needed to confirm these results before clinical recommendations can be given, this pilot study does give one more reason to consider the benefits of Omega 3 supplementation.

Have some Grape juice with your Curry Recently, Resveritrol, which can be found in the skins and seeds of red grapes, and Curcumin, the active ingredient of the curry spice Tumeric, have shown promise in combination as anti-tumor agents against the deadly childhood cancer Neuroblastoma. This recent study from The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto demonstrated these compounds together induced cell cycle arrest and programmed cell death in a Neuroblastoma cell culture. Although this is not at the stage of use in mainstream cancer therapy, this article serves to impress upon us of the bounty of pharmacons found in nature's garden. Curcumin (1) and Resveritrol (2) have made news of late in research on Alzheimer’s Disease where they show promise, along with a variety of other biologicals (3).

In addition Curcumin (4) and Resveritrol (5) have demonstrated favorable effect in Breast Cancer research.