Search machines Google and Altavista Essays

Search machines Google and Altavista Essays Search machines Google and Altavista Paper Search machines Google and Altavista Paper It was a complicated task to find interesting article on health issues in popular print media. I tried FPinfomart.ca, an all-encompassing Canadian news and information resource, search machines Google and Altavista. I have choosen TV story which everybody can print out. On Feb. 16 2004 1:53 PM Canatian Television (CTV) published material †Most Canadians not getting enough omega 3s†. CTV correspondents discovered the double problem: Canadians eat less omega-3s because they awared about high mercury contamination level of sea food and high risk for PCB intake with farmed salmon. But, on other hand, â€Å"fish are a rich source of omega 3 fatty acids and many more studies suggest we are simply not getting enough†. This article/reportage inform us that omega-3 fatty acids are essential fatty acids which appear prone to a number of diseases That includes certain forms of cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and other autoimmune disorders like lupus, heart diseases. They are vital for brain and eye development in children. Omega-3 fatty acids are powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatories. Deficiencies of omega 3s are also linked to depression and schizophrenia. The experts of American Heart Association says omega 3s can help decrease arrhytmias (irregular heartbeat), decrease triglyceride levels, and decrease growth rate of plaque in the arteries. More than 50 per cent of Canadians are already deficient in omega 3s even though many say they eat fish. But they eat breaded fish mainly, so they get more trans fats and low omega 3s 10 parts of trans for every one part omega 3s as said by professor Bruce Holub of the University of Guelp. CTV informs customers that they could measure their levels of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) in blood. Mass media source informs us that â€Å"a Canadian company, NutraSource Diagnostics, is commercializing a simple blood test that allows doctors to measure how much of the fish oils a patient may need†. NutraSource president Will Rowe urged that this test is necessary for advising to maintain or increase our intake of these vital nutrients. Dr. Tom Barnard told history about his 9 years old patient who has colitis. Barnard prescribed him fish oil capsules after new tests showed he was seriously deficient in omega 3s. Boy immediately became â€Å"more energetic and more strong†. â€Å"I just had a good feeling when I started taking it, – said young victim of new/old treatment. The same opinion was expressed by his parents. The last part of the article dedicated to the wonderful perspectives of use of the omega 3 blood test. As an expert, director of McGills School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, Dr. Peter Jones sayd the test should prove useful for a growing cross-section of the population. He proposed omega 3 fats as an importanty indicatore of heart disease risk and consider it will be more informative than traditional LDL (low density lipids) know as â€Å"bad cholesterol. Well what type of research we can find in this article? I think it has some layers. The base for conslusion was made from epidemiological studies and they was added with some anecdotal researches. I found 103 publications dated from 2003 to 2004 about the role of omega-3 fatty acids in the prevention of heart diseases. For example recent article in the American Family Physician Journal (2004) by Covington M.B. from University of Maryland School of Medicine is dedicated to use of omega-3 fatty acids in the modern medicine. Author wrote that â€Å"omega-3 fatty acids significantly reduce the risk for sudden death caused by cardiac arrhythmias and all-cause mortality in patients with known coronary heart disease. Fatty fish, such as salmon and tuna, and fish oil are rich sources of the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid. Flaxseed, canola oil, and walnuts also are good dietary sources of omega-3 fatty acids.† But in CTV article authors said that only fish could be good source of ω-3 fatty acids. I developed a comparative table to show the food value of various staff as sources of omega-3 fatty acids You could see that plant based food is a good souce of LNA (alpha-linolenic acid) which is a precursor of DHA and   EPA and has same health effects. The best way to prove results of research is using principles evidence based medicin (EBM). The most common definition of EBM is taken from David Sackett. EBM is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of the individual patient. It means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research. Evidence, in this context, referred to empirical data from sound clinical research that has demonstrated the actual benefits and harms of medical interventions. It’s mean that clinical decisions would be more reliably informed by the findings of systematic reviews of clinical research than by the often divergent predictions of intervention effectiveness from individual clinicians. Another issue of evidence based medicine is â€Å"patient-centred† decision making. We could speak about â€Å"evidence-based patient choice†. I think that we need special advisory committee or independent expert groups which will supervise the content of health related publications. They could confirm and improve data represented in the popular print media. And every media dealing with health problems should be honest in advertising editorial policy and transparent in their sponsorship. References 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Donatelle R. J., Access to health 8th ed. San Francisco : Benjamin Cummings, 2004. xxv, 651, [76] p. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Covington MB Omega-3 fatty acids. // Am Fam Physician.   2004 Jul 1;70(1):133-40. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hooper L, Griffiths E, Abrahams B, Alexander W, Atkins S, Atkinson G, Bamford R, Chinuck R, Farrington J, Gardner E, Greene P, Gunner C, Hamer C, Helby B, Hetherington S, Howson R, Laidlaw J, Li M, Lynas J, McVicar C, Mead A, Moody B, Paterson K, Neal S, Rigby P, Ross F, Shaw H, Stone D, Taylor F, Van Rensburgh L, Vine R, Whitehead J, Wray L. Dietetic guidelines: diet in secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (first update, June 2003).J Hum Nutr Diet.   2004 Aug;17(4):337-49. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Evidence-based Medicine: How to Practise and Teach EBM By Sackett DL, Straus SE, Richardson WS, Rosenberg W, Haynes RB Second Edition. Churchill Livingstone: Edinburgh, 2000. 261 p. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Holub, B. Clinical nutrition: 4 Omega 3 fatty acids in cardiovascular care. Canadian Medical Association. Journal. 2002 (166): 608- 616 ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/print/CTVNews/1076697365096_72106565/?hub=CTVNewsAt11subhub=PrintStory nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search burnbraefarms.com/nutrition/omega.pdf mdsdx.com/MDS_Diagnostic_Services/News/MDSNews11270301.asp mdsdx.com/files/Canada/InsideDiagnostics/Inside_Diagnostics_September_ON.pdf nutrasource.ca/content.cfm jmir.org/2001/2/e19/ cochrane.org/index0.htm cfic.ca/viewarticle.asp?id=3article=37lang=english inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/labeti/guide/ch6ae.shtml