Taking Omega-3 every day could help children who have poor reading skills

No overall effect but by careful dredging through the data they found something they liked.  You can usually do that but replicating it is the problem

Children with poor reading skills could have their performance boosted by taking daily supplements of fatty acids found in seafood and some algae, according to new research.

Scientists at Oxford University gave 600mg omega-3 fatty acid pills to 362 children aged seven to nine daily for 16 weeks.

Although there was no significant effect in the overall study sample, they found those whose reading skills were in the lowest fifth of the normal range improved their reading age by three weeks more that a group taking a placebo.

And in the group of children whose initial reading skills were in the lowest 10 per cent their reading age was improved by 1.9 months.

The study was funded by DSM Nutritional Lipids which makes omega-3 supplements but carried out independently by Oxford University.

Dr Alex Richardson, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Evidence-Based Intervention at Oxford University, said: ‘Our results showed that taking daily supplements of omega-3 DHA improved reading performance for the poorest readers (those in the lowest fifth of the normal range) and helped these children to catch up with their peer group.’

Paul Montgomery, Professor of Psychosocial Intervention at the Centre for Evidence-Based Intervention at Oxford University, said: ‘Previous studies have shown benefits from dietary supplementation with omega-3 in children with conditions such as ADHD, Dyslexia and Developmental Coordination Disorder, but this is the first study to show such positive results in children from the general school population.’

However, while parents said their children had fewer behavioural problems, their teachers did not report similar improvements such as less hyperactivity and 'opposition-defiant behaviour'.

And Michael Crawford at Imperial College London warned: 'People working with children, on the brain, expect the brain to be manipulated in a period of 16 weeks. It's a fundamental flaw.'

SOURCE





An end to the flu? Oral spray 'kills 99.9% of infectious airborne germs'

The only real tests of this stuff appear to have been in laboratory glassware -- which is pretty unconvincing

The influenza season is a thorn in the side of both employees and employers alike.  But a first-of-its-kind oral antiseptic spray promises to end the annual misery endured by millions of flu sufferers, and thousands of lives, around the world. Or so its manufacturer claims.

The Halo Oral Antiseptic has been found to be 99.9 per cent effective in killing infectious airborne germs.

Lead author Dr Frank Esper, from the University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, said: 'Respiratory tract disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Yet there has been limited progress in the prevention of respiratory virus infections.  'Halo is unique in that it offers protection from airborne germs such as influenza and rhinovirus.'

The scientists used glycerine and xanthan gum as a microbial barrier combined with cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) as a broad-spectrum anti-infective agent to fight respiratory illnesses.

To test this, clinical strains of 2009 pandemic H1N1 were used as a prototype virus to demonstrate Halo's anti-infective activity in cell culture assays.

Dr Esper said: 'The glycerine and xanthan gum prevent the germs from entering a person's system and the CPC kills the germs once they're trapped there.'

He said Halo will have clear benefit to aid against infection and reduce disease from epidemic, sporadic or pandemic respiratory viral infections, particularly helping people at risk for severe respiratory illness including immune-compromised individuals with chronic lung disease, and military personnel.

The study findings were presented yesterday at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in San Francisco.

Another study on Halo will be presented by Dr Mahmoud Ghannoum of UH Case Medical Center, also in Cleveland, showing Halo's effectiveness against disease-causing pathogenic germs.

That study asserts that respiratory and/or systemic infections through airborne and manually transmitted pathogenic microbes often enter the system through the mouth, making Halo, an oral spray that targets these pathogens, an effective way to prevent infections.

Additionally, preliminary data from the researchers found that Halo completely kills all 11 clinical strains of whooping cough against which the spray was tested.

The results showed that when a person used three sprays of Halo, it destroyed airborne germs breathed in for up to six hours, even when people were eating and drinking.

The concept of coating the back of the oral cavity to prevent germs from entering and then providing sustained antiseptic action to kill airborne germs was developed by a Cleveland company, Oasis Consumer Healthcare.

Dr Ghannoum said: 'Exposure to airborne germs is inevitable - especially in crowded environments and when travelling. Unlike other products that support the immune system or protect from germs on surfaces or hands, Halo is the first and only product of its kind to offer protection from airborne germs.'

The Halo Oral Antiseptic is on sale in the U.S. now.

SOURCE