1 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, Welcome to another edition of Wisdom Wednesdays. Today, 2 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: I want to talk about a very simple blood marker 3 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:23,919 Speaker 1: that can predict your risk of cardiovascular disease and how 4 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:26,640 Speaker 1: long you're going to live to a certain extent. And 5 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: the very cool thing about this blood marker, unlike many 6 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:34,199 Speaker 1: other blood markers, is it's very easy to change. So 7 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: I want to talk about something called the Amiga three 8 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:41,000 Speaker 1: index that was created back in two thousand and four 9 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,600 Speaker 1: by doctor Bill Harris and doctor Vaughan Shacky. They published 10 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,960 Speaker 1: an article that basically announced the creation of the Amiga 11 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:52,519 Speaker 1: three index, and it's now been used in quite a 12 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: few research studies. And there's a particular one of interest 13 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: that I want to discuss that was actually pub least 14 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:04,520 Speaker 1: in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in late twenty 15 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: and twenty one, and the title of the paper is 16 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 1: using an aritzocyte fatty acid fingerprint to predict risk of 17 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,760 Speaker 1: all cause mortality the Framingham Offspring cohort. 18 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 2: So a little bit of background for this. We have 19 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 2: known for a while that red. 20 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: Blood cell and long chain Amiga three fatty acid percentages 21 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: are being associated with lower risk for total mortality, but 22 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: it's been unknown to this point if looking at a 23 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:39,040 Speaker 1: whole heap of fatty acids could actually improve risk prediction. 24 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: And so the objective of this study was to compare 25 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:45,720 Speaker 1: a combination of red blood cell fatty apid acid levels 26 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: with standard risk factors for cardiovascular disease in predicting risk 27 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: of all cause mortality. So in order to do this, 28 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: and they used a cohort called the Framingham Offspring cord. 29 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: You may have heard of the Framingham Study before. That's 30 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: where we got a lot of the early indications about 31 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: risk factors for cardiovascuar disease. 32 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:08,800 Speaker 2: They've been followed up for many, many years. 33 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:11,000 Speaker 1: And it took up a bunch of these people who 34 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: didn't have cardiovascular disease but did have red blood cell 35 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: fatty acid measurements and a number of basic clinical measures 36 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: at the start, and then they followed them for eleven 37 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 1: years and they basically evaluated the association of eight standard 38 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: risk factors things that are typically used for cardiovascuar disease. Age, sex, 39 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:39,399 Speaker 1: total cholesterol hits, the ESK hits, the L cholesterol, whether 40 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:43,239 Speaker 1: or not you were on medication for hypertension, your systolic 41 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 1: blood pressure, you're smoking status, and whether or not you 42 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:50,359 Speaker 1: had diabetes. And then they compared that with twenty e 43 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:54,640 Speaker 1: at fatty acid measures and looked at the associations with 44 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: all cause mortality, and what they actually find was that 45 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: this Amiga three index that was created years ago by 46 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: Bill Harris was actually as good a predictor of all 47 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: cause mortality as the standard traditional ones that we've done 48 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 1: that I just listed. But really interestingly, and this study 49 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: found that the people who had a high Amiga three index, 50 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:24,600 Speaker 1: which was a score of eight percent or greater, had 51 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:29,640 Speaker 1: a whopping ninety percent reduced risk of sudden cardiac death 52 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: compared to those who had an Amiga three index of 53 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: less than four percent or four percent or less. I 54 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: should say, now just take a moment to clarify what 55 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: this Amiga three index is. As I said, it measures 56 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: the amount of Mega three in your red blood celled membranes. Now, 57 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: the reason that this is important a lot of traditional 58 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,119 Speaker 1: measures of Amiga three fatty acid status have been done 59 00:03:56,160 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 1: in your plasma pospholippets. And this is end of the 60 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: CM as a measuring blood glucose versus HbA one C. 61 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: So some people may know this already. Your blood glucose 62 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: is very heavily influenced by what you recently et as 63 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: is your plasmo phosphol lipid measure of a mega three 64 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: fairy acid. So it really is reflective of whether or 65 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,599 Speaker 1: not you've had any Amiga threes, fish or other sources 66 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:24,480 Speaker 1: of mega threes in the last twenty four hours before 67 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:25,479 Speaker 1: you've done the test. 68 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 2: Whereas, because red. 69 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: Blood sales take one hundred and twenty days to turn over, 70 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,600 Speaker 1: and you're actually getting a measure of the last four months, 71 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: just like HbA one C is a much more stable 72 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: measure than your blood glucose. So, and as I said, 73 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:44,920 Speaker 1: those with the high a mega three index have had 74 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: ninety percent reduced risk of sudden cardiac death compared to 75 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: those who had four percent or less. But interestingly, in 76 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: this cohort, and the people who had eight percent or 77 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: more so a high Amiga three index had a five 78 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 1: year approximately increased life expectancy compared to the people who 79 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: had an Amiga three index of five percent or less. Now, 80 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 1: very interestingly, in the United States, the average Amiga three 81 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: index is around five percent, it's just below five percent. 82 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: And in Japan, because they eat a lot of fish, 83 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,720 Speaker 1: and their Amiga three index of the population on average 84 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: is eight percent, and we know that the Japanese live 85 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: five years longer on average than the Americans. So that 86 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: is a very very interesting correlation that in this study 87 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 1: they found that people within eight percent and a Mega 88 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:43,839 Speaker 1: three index that lived five years longer than people with 89 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: five percent of Mega three indecks are less and we 90 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:51,040 Speaker 1: see exactly the same thing reflected in the population the 91 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:55,160 Speaker 1: United States versus Japan. But it's interesting to do a 92 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: little bit of a deeper dive in the study because 93 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:01,280 Speaker 1: they had a table in there that really caught and 94 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 1: what they looked at in this table, or what they 95 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:09,280 Speaker 1: represented in this table were what's known as the Kaplan 96 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: Meyer survival curves of a bunch of different people. So 97 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:17,480 Speaker 1: what they did was looked at the percentage chance of 98 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: them surviving and to certain ages, and they had four 99 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: different categories. They had those who had a high a 100 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,480 Speaker 1: Mega three index and were non smokers. Then they had 101 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: those who had a high a Mega three index who 102 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:32,479 Speaker 1: were smokers. Then they had those who had a lower 103 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:35,560 Speaker 1: Mega three index non smokers and low a Mega three 104 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: index and smokers. Now you won't be surprised to hear 105 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: that the people who had the least chance of survival 106 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: to the age of seventy five with those of the 107 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: lowest Amiga three index who were smokers, and they had 108 00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:54,040 Speaker 1: just over a fifty probably fifty five percent chance of 109 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 1: survival to the age of I think it was about 110 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: seventy six m in this study then, and very interestingly, 111 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:04,040 Speaker 1: those who had the high Amiga three index but were 112 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 1: non smokers, and they had over eighty probably eighty five 113 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: to ninety I'm just kind of reading it off the graph, 114 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:17,559 Speaker 1: a percentage of survival to the age of around seventy six. 115 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 1: But the really interesting thing was somewhere in the middle 116 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: were both those who were smokers with the high Amga 117 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: three index and those who were non smokers with a 118 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: low Amiga three index, right, so, and they were pretty 119 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:37,720 Speaker 1: much inseparable. So what this was basically saying was having 120 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:42,240 Speaker 1: a low Amiga three index is akin to being a smoker, 121 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 1: or if you're a smoker, you might want to hear 122 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 1: it presented this way. If you're a smoker and you 123 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 1: have an Amiga three index of eight or greater, it 124 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: pretty much nullifies the impact of smoking and compared to 125 00:07:57,320 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: people who have a low. 126 00:07:58,760 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 2: Amiga three index. 127 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: So I think these two things taken together, are pretty 128 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: strong evidence that we need to have a high Amiga 129 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 1: three index. 130 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 2: So how do we do that? The best way to 131 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 2: do that is eat lots of fish. 132 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:15,680 Speaker 1: If they don't like to eat a lot of fish, 133 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 1: we know that supplementing for greater then two grams or 134 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 1: two grams are greater. A day of really high quality 135 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: fish oil over a number of months will get you 136 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 1: up to that level. And if you're a vegetarian or vegan, 137 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: you will not get to that level just by eating 138 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:39,640 Speaker 1: things like flax seeds because they're pretty poorly converted. You're 139 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: going to need to take a supplement, ideally one of 140 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,959 Speaker 1: the really good quality micro algae supplements, which is the 141 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 1: stuff that the fish actually eat. So that's really what 142 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: you want to be looking at, rather than trying to 143 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:55,719 Speaker 1: get it from flax seeds and linseed oil and that 144 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:58,959 Speaker 1: sort of stuff. Now, the other big question is how 145 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:01,560 Speaker 1: do I know what my Mega three level is? Well, 146 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 1: you can go to Amiga quant that's O M E 147 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: G A q U A n T dot com and 148 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:11,679 Speaker 1: you can actually order the test and it's pretty damn 149 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 1: cheap and they just send it out to you and 150 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 1: you do a fingerprick and off you go. I have 151 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: got no financial ties to these guys whatsoever. I just 152 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: think it's an absolutely awesome product, and we should all 153 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:26,839 Speaker 1: be getting our Amiga three Index above it. 154 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 2: At least. That's it for this week. Catch you next time.