It’s funny how the media can read their own conclusions from recently published research. Take the first paragraph in an article that describes research on the effect of aspirin on mice, done in southern California:
Taking one Aspirin a day may help prevent the bone-wasting disease osteoporosis, according to research by two scientists at the University of Southern California.
The title of the actual study was “Pharmacologic stem cell based intervention as a new approach to osteoporosis treatment in rodents.” The investigators were looking into whether or not an observed relation between aspirin use and decreased osteoporosis had a mechanism in preventing death of bone-forming precursor cells.
Nonetheless, aspirin and its possible protective effect in osteoporosis does not surprise me. But osteoporosis is a chronic disease, it is not an acute headache that might be relieved by a drug. There are no deficiencies of aspirin. The naturopathic medicine link: aspirin is probably an inferior choice to a diet rich in essential omega 3 fats. I wrote on this a long time ago on the main web page here.
A quick search on aspirin and osteoporosis yielded another study in J Bone Miner Res. 1996 Jan;11(1):29-35. They found “ In age-adjusted analyses, daily use of aspirin or NSAIDs was associated with a 2.3-5.8% increase in BMD of the hip and spine. ” BMD stands for bone mineral density.
A search on fish oils (a good source of the essential omega 3 fatty acids) and osteoporosis yielded a better number of studies.
In J Bone Miner Metab. 2008;26(3):241-7. Epub 2008 May 11, researchers also studied mice and found that fish oils improved bone mineral density in rats who had their ovaries removed to simulate menopause. Sounds good so far.
Again in rats, fish oil was found to protect against bone loss induced by an anti-epileptic drug called valproic acid. The mechanism dealt with the modulation of inflammatory cytokines. This makes sense as fish oils, in their promotion of a healthier inflammation, are very useful in painful conditions involving the immune system, and also in cardiovascular disease.
An interesting study, still in rats, published in Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2004 Dec;68(12):2613-5, showed that fish oils, but not oils with less essential omega 3 oils, protected against fracture even in calorie and calcium deprived diets.
Not wanting to give all the focus to rats, an observational study in humans showed that cod liver oil probably is not a good choice for osteoporosis. They found that higher doses of cod liver oil were associated with decreased bone mineral density. This is despite the vitamin D in the liver oil (which is too low most of the time). The reason for this is likely to be an excess of vitamin A in cod liver oil, which is why I rarely recommend it.
In the conventional medical journal Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2004 Oct;59(10):722-30; quiz 745-6, a review on women and fish oil was published. The net conclusion was that fish oils are benefical in many situations, including preventing osteoporosis.
There were eight more studies on fish oil that I wanted to summarize, but quickly browsing over them shows they are quite repetitive. The overall summary, if you are a rat or mouse, fish oil most definitely will protect you against osteoporosis. If you are a human, it probably will protect you, but fish oils have only been associated with less osteoporosis. It still might be that fish oils or omega 3 content is a marker of an overall healthier diet, since the major sources of omega 3 oils are in vegetables, and in animals fed vegetables (including grass fed beef, and fish, since the fish eat plankton and algae).
But back to the main point of this post, whenever you read a post about aspirin, you could probably assume the same benefit (or risk!) from taking fish oil, especially if the disease involved is a chronic disease that develops over a long period of time.
Our diets are far, far too rich in grains like wheat, rice, and in animals fed these grains. The grains are rich in omega 6 fats (which by the way are still essential since we don’t manufacture them). Our diets are far, far too low in vegetables and animals fed vegetables, which are rich in omega 3 fats. The ratio of omega 6 to 3 in our diet used to be 2:1, now it is typically closer to 15:1.
Omega 6 and omega 3 fats form the basic molecules involved in inflammation. Have too much omega 6 and we will have excessive, unhealthy inflammation, contributing to many diseases including heart disease and osteoporosis. Have plenty of omega 3 and the inflammation will be appropriate, and in fact protective definitely in cardiovascular disease, and probably in osteoporosis.
Dear Dr. Chan,
Thanks…and Be Blessed!