Article about Omega-3's

[Flick]

In Europe It’s Fish Oil After Heart Attacks, but Not in U.S.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/he...d46&ei=5087%0A

Good article about how omega-3 treatment is standard in Europe after a heart attack, but not in the US - primarily because there are no big pharms hyping it to physicians. I don't see why we all shouldn't take omega-3, particularly anyone with dry eye, since it can only benefit your heart.

I must say that I have found it difficult to find a cheap, reliable and safe way to get a high dose of omega-3 daily. My eye doc recommends 3,000-4,000 mg a day. I've tried HydroEye and Theratears Nutrition, which are expensive and also contain other things like Vitamin E. To get the amount of omega-3 I want I would have to take several servings a day which meant I was getting more Vitamin E than I was comfortable with (found a few studies that found too much vitamin E reduced life expectancy).

Taking standard omega-3 supplements from a drugstore is fine and a bit cheaper, but I wonder about the quality of the fish oil in these, since they are not FDA-regulated. I've even considered trying Omacor, which is prescription omega-3, because it is certainly high quality and may actually be cheaper for me with insurance coverage. But haven't felt like bothering my eye doc yet about a new prescription.

Yet another inconvenience is that to get a high amount of omega-3 requires taking large pills several times a day. I guess there is probably no way around this.

Anyone else had success finding a reliable way to get a big dose of omega-3 daily? Maybe DEZ could get a reference page like the new one for artificial tears?

[Rebecca Petris]

Fish oils!!!

(WHOOPS - if anybody got my earlier reply by email, my apologies, I was doing sloppy label reading and posted incorrect information!! This is a correction.)

Hi Flick,

I share your frustration with this and I will add to it that you cannot even assume that the quality of fish oil in a dry-eye-specific omega 3 supplement is ANY better than the generic types you'll find in your grocery store. Mostly what you'll find out there even in the proprietary "dry eye" preparations is that it's "marine lipid" or cod liver oil or whatever.

Back at our conf. in February, our two MDS on the panel felt that probably the best source is northern Atlantic salmon oils. I took a look around and the only 'dry-eye-specific' supplement I've seen with salmon oil is Dry Vites, which is why I decided to add those to the Dry Eye Shop. With Dry Vites, the daily dose of 3 softgels gives 1,000 MG of salmon oil per day (plus 500mg cold pressed flaxseed oil and 2.5IU of Vitamin E). So if your doctor's advice is to get 3,000 mg of fish oil, you could triple that (9 softgels daily - ) while still keeping Vitamin E very low (7.5IU).

Cost-wise For dry vites I think you'd be looking at $41.25 per month (if you purchased the $55 value pack which is 3 bottles of 120 softgels). Sorry but... I have no idea how this compares to other sources of fish oil off the top of my head.

As I get time I've been looking into other options, trying to find some sources for better fish oils - sadly even the reps from the supplement companies have no idea where their fish oils come from or what they're like!!! Everyone supposedly has pharmaceutical grade highly refined blah de blah de blah but... at the end of the day what species or location on earth it's from seems to be a mystery.

For other options, I would check out BARLEANS. Cindy mentioned them to me long ago as a great source for high quality oils. I was on their site just now trying to remind myself about what kind of fish oil they use - I couldn't immediately find it and don't have time for more right now but a quick email to them should get some more info - or maybe it's tucked into the site somehwere I didn't see.

Regarding other forms: Consider liquid. A lot of people are bothered by the large softgels. Fish oils don't have to smell bad... they can come blended with other stuff, and you can put them in a shake or on a salad. Again, not sure how the cost stacks up specifically when looking at the kind of quantity you're targeting but suspect that in liquid form it might be more economical? It's got to be cheaper to manufacture that way.

I think that a company in Florida called Medical Ophthalmics who are big in supplements is going to be coming out with a supplement for dry eye soon and I'm hoping it will have a good fish oil source in it.

As I get time I'll try to get more info and post it on our A to Z page for this. I have a page currently for Omega 3s but it's pretty barebones - I will try to put some more work into this and add things like how much of each oil type, vitamin E, etc.

all for now...

[Silverlady]

A hint about Fish Oil

If you dislike the "fishy" aftertaste you get sometimes from the fish oil in soft gels, freeze them. I've been assured by a pharmacist that it will not hurt the fish oil and they will then pass into the intestines before they melt. No more fishy burps!! Works for me.
Billye

[Cindy]

Northern Edge Milled Flax Seed

I take a good quality multi-vitamin, a vitamin B-complex and 2T of Northern Edge Milled Flax Seed/day and have been doing so since May. And that's all I take, which is a BIG change from the last few years . Northern Edge supplies - among other things - lots of Omega-3:
http://www.joyofflax.com/flaxfacts.php

A tablespoon of Milled Flax Seed also contains up to 3800 mg of ALNA, the primary Omega-3.

[Flick]

This doctor recommends medical grade cod-liver oil.

I think I'm going to order some Dry Vites from DEZ, they seem to be the best that's out there.

Anyone read the Consumer Reports analysis?

"Dr. Donnenfeld: Consumer Reports did an analysis of these products a few months ago. It said Sears and TheraTears Nutrition (Advanced Vision Research, Woburn, Mass.) have a very good flaxseed oil and cod-liver oil product.
When you buy this, you want to buy medical grade. Flaxseed oil isn’t such a problem. It’s fairly easy to get. But if you’ve been using cod-liver oil, you want to make sure that the mercury content is monitored and that it’s not rancid.
I like using medical-grade cod-liver oil. I may be the least holistic person in the world—I’m not the kind of person who eats granola and talks about vegan menus.
I believe in the importance of these nutritional supplements for people who have lid disease and/or dry eye 100%. I think it makes an enormous difference. And the combination of using oral nutritional supplements with topical Restasis provides an anti-inflammatory benefit.
There is a lot of literature coming out now saying flaxseed oil and cod-liver oil are good for all inflammatory diseases, showing that they’re good for joint disease, arthritis, and various inflammatory skin conditions. It just makes sense that it extends to inflammatory eye disease as well.
I think that’s a huge benefit with almost no downside. Cod-liver oil and flaxseed oil do a lot of good things: lower patients’ cholesterol, improve their skin, and help meibomian gland secretions."

http://www.eyeworld.org/article.php?sid=3426

[dianat]

slightly off topic...

I'm chuckling to myself because I'm pretty loyal these days to my omegas. And I do realize they are good for my overall health. I even have my kids taking gummy bear-like supplement that provides them with their dose of the omega fatty acids. (What's really funny is their fussy little palettes don't really like regular kids chewable vitamins, but they LOVE the gummy bears which to me taste shockingly like PAINT!)

...okay, so I'm chuckling because I lay awake at nights worrying about what my eyes will be doing to me when I'm elderly. Who will be putting in drops for me, how will I manage, will I be able to see well...and I reconcile these fears with this notion that I take good quality supplements, pop lots of heart-healthy omegas, exercise, eat well, etc.

I mean, I'm taking darned good care of myself! Now, I do hope to live long enough to see an effective cure for dry eye and I do love life, but living until I'm 115 wasn't exactly what I had in mind! I mean, if there is no cure for dry eye in my lifetime, I could have an award-winning cardiovascular system but still have one heck of a time with these eyes!

[Lucy]

Diane, you ARE looking to the future. You have produced 3 great kids to take care of you in your old age. Matthew will be especially handy because he can take over when the older two are tired of all the taking care of mother stuff! So, keep those kids healthy and keep all your parts healthy. It will pay off in the long run.

After you have a couple of hip replacements, a heart transplant and other stuff, the dry eyes will be a memory. You are young now and very well may live to 115. Don't forget to keep Gary in good shape too. This going from young to "middle age" comes in the blink of an eye. In your case, many blinks from trying to make tears.

God, I love gummy bears. Did you have to mention them? I will love gummy bears even when I'm elderly, whenever "that" is. I just hope to be there and able to gum the gummy bears.