Fish Oil supplements benefit lupus patients in a number of ways

In the severe form of the autoimmune disease lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus or SLE) the immune system can attack many organs including the joints, skin, heart, lungs, kidneys, and nervous system. SLE is also a disease of the vascular system leading to cumulative damage to blood vessels.

In a study of 60 patients with SLE, those who took large servings of Fish Oil supplements had a decrease in their symptoms with an additional improvement in blood vessel function and blood flow. The level of oxidative stress, a contributor to cardiovascular disease, also decreased. The study was presented at the recent American College of Rheumatology's annual meeting.

Men with a drop in anabolic hormones have an increased risk of dying

As men age levels of key anabolic hormones drop. These hormones include testosterone, IGF-1, and DHEA-S. Testosterone is a well known male hormone, IGF-1 levels reflect the amount of human growth hormone activity taking place and is needed for healing brain tissue, creating muscle and joint tissue, and health in general, and DHEA-S is a hormone that helps prevent obesity, improves muscle mass, and may have the ability to ward off cancer and autoimmune disease.

Researchers looked at the level of these three hormones in 410 men 65 years and older and did a follow-up on them 6 years later. A total of 126 of these men died over the 6-year period. If the men were low in one of these hormones they had a 147% increased risk of dying, if they were low in any two they had a 185% increased risk of dying and if they were low in all three they had a whopping 229% increased risk of dying. After adjusting the analysis they had a 244% increased risk of dying. The study is published in the November 12th, 2007 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.