Ask Us Anything!
Ask Us Anything!
As we move into the third year of Sensible Medicine, we thank you and talk about the future
We are incredibly grateful for our subscribers and readers.
We are humbled by the numbers of subscribers and for the intelligent, thought-provoking, and (overwhelmingly) kind and good humored comments on the posts. More and more people are submitting essays to us and the site seems to be evolving into the resource and community that we had hoped it would.
We plan to keep doing what we think we do best: “showcasing a range of ideas and opinions about all things bio-medicine.” We also hope to throw some new things into the mix.
Our “letter to the editor” idea is beginning to shape. Here, people with important points to make about articles, who have taken the time to write a letter to the editor, one which the journal had declined to publish, are welcome to submit their letter to us and we will try to give it a home on Sensible Medicine.
Another thing we would like to do is offer a little extra to those subscribers who have chosen to pay for their subscription. This generosity is gracious and appreciated and really stimulates us to work harder to make Sensible Medicine great. (We do still all have busy day jobs.)
So, below, for paid subscribers, ask us anything!
We will answer these questions on a podcast in the coming weeks. We will read questions and will try not to dodge any of them. You can address the questions to one or all of us.
Again. Thanks so much. Looking forward to another great year.
Addendum. We closed comments on 9/28/24 so we can record the podcast (or maybe podcasts). Given the reception, we will definitely to this again.
Photo By Adi Goldstein
I am curious to learn whether you doctors are familiar with endocannabinoid system in general and arachidonic acid research in particular. An 'Adam Cifu arachidonic acid' web search which brought up a comment I posted on this site on May 22, 2024. Exploring further, I found a 2024 article entitled "Transcriptomic Analysis of Arachidonic Acid Pathway Genes Provides Mechanistic Insight into Multi-Organ Inflammatory and Vascular Diseases". The article says, "In our study, we found that distinct AA pathways were expressed in various comorbid conditions, especially those with prominent inflammatory risk factors. Comorbidities, such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity appeared to contribute to elevated expression of pro-inflammatory lipid mediator genes. Our results demonstrate that expression of inflammatory AA pathway genes may potentiate and attenuate disease; therefore, we suggest further exploration of these pathways as therapeutic targets to improve outcomes."
In medicine the objective is to develop drugs to control some aspect of endocannabinoid system function. It is far less risky and expensive to reduce arachidonic acid and linoleic acid intake as recommended by these Norwegian animal science researchers. "Chicken meat with reduced concentration of arachidonic acid (AA) and reduced ratio between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids has potential health benefits because a reduction in AA intake dampens prostanoid signaling, and the proportion between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids is too high in our diet...Combining reduction of the intake of AA with enhancement of the intake of oleic acid will, moreover, also be a better strategy for reducing the total extent of in vivo lipid peroxidation, rather than adding more EPA (with 5 double bonds) and DHA (with 6 double bonds) to a diet already over-abundant in arachidonic acid and linoleic acid." (web search - Anna Haug Individual Variation)
A 'John Mandrola arachidonic acid' web search brings up a comment I posted on this site on May 6, 2024.
A 'Vinay Prasad arachidonic acid' web search brought up an article entitled 'Role of Arachidonic Acid and Its Metabolites in the Biological and Clinical Manifestations of Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome'.
I urge you doctors to read 'Omega Balance' by Anthony Hulbert. A 2021 paper he wrote ends with this comment: "... I note that we are only beginning to understand the implications of the balance between omega-3 and omega-6 fats in the human diet. Although most animals have a relatively constant diet, we humans are especially diverse (both between individuals and over time) in the types of food we consume. Over the last half-century, the modern human food chain has emphasised omega-6 and diminished omega-3 intake, largely because of: (i) a shift from animal fats to vegetable oils, (ii) an increase in grain-fed meat and dairy, and (iii) a decline in full-fat dairy products from grass-fed livestock (an important source of omega-3). In the opinion of the current author and others, these diet trends are likely to be responsible for the increased incidence of obesity and other modern epidemics of chronic disease, but that is a story for another time." (web search - Anthony Hulbert The under-appreciated fats of life)
Thank you for sharing your knowledge, inspiring critical appraisal and now giving us subscribers the opportunity to ask you anything!! Questions will come. So great to have this forum for intellectual exchanges, mentoring and CME.