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Hall WL. Long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake across the life span for cardiovascular disease prevention in women. Proc Nutr Soc 2024:1-12. [PMID: 38444046 DOI: 10.1017/s0029665124000181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/07/2024]
Abstract
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a major health concern for women. Historically there has been a misconception that men are at greater risk because CVD tends to occur earlier in life compared to women. Clinical guidelines for prevention of heart disease are currently the same for both sexes, but accumulating evidence demonstrates that risk profiles diverge. In fact, several CVD risk factors confer an even greater risk in women relative to men, including high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and raised triglycerides. Furthermore, many female-specific CVD risk factors exist, including early menarche, pregnancy complications, polycystic ovary syndrome, reproductive hormonal treatments and menopause. Little is known about how diet interacts with CVD risk factors at various stages of a woman’s life. Long chain (LC) n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) intakes are a key dietary factor that may impact risk of CVD throughout the life course differentially in men and women. Oestrogen enhances conversion of the plant n-3 PUFA, alpha-linolenic acid, to LCn-3 PUFA. Increasing the frequency of oily fish consumption or LCn-3 PUFA supplementation may be important for reducing coronary risk during the menopausal transition, during which time oestrogen levels decline and the increase in CVD risk factors is accelerated. Women are under-represented in the evidence base for CVD prevention following LC n-3 PUFA supplementation. Therefore it is not clear whether there are sex differences in response to treatment. Furthermore, there is a lack of evidence on optimal intakes of LC n-3 PUFA across the lifespan for CVD prevention in women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wendy Louise Hall
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Life Course and Population Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, UK
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Grujić-Milanović J, Rajković J, Milanović S, Jaćević V, Miloradović Z, Nežić L, Novaković R. Natural Substances vs. Approved Drugs in the Treatment of Main Cardiovascular Disorders-Is There a Breakthrough? Antioxidants (Basel) 2023; 12:2088. [PMID: 38136208 PMCID: PMC10740850 DOI: 10.3390/antiox12122088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2023] [Revised: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of diseases with a very high rate of morbidity and mortality. The clinical presentation of CVDs can vary from asymptomatic to classic symptoms such as chest pain in patients with myocardial infarction. Current therapeutics for CVDs mainly target disease symptoms. The most common CVDs are coronary artery disease, acute myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, chronic heart failure, arterial hypertension, and valvular heart disease. In their treatment, conventional therapies and pharmacological therapies are used. However, the use of herbal medicines in the therapy of these diseases has also been reported in the literature, resulting in a need for critical evaluation of advances related to their use. Therefore, we carried out a narrative review of pharmacological and herbal therapeutic effects reported for these diseases. Data for this comprehensive review were obtained from electronic databases such as MedLine, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Conventional therapy requires an individual approach to the patients, as when patients do not respond well, this often causes allergic effects or various other unwanted effects. Nowadays, medicinal plants as therapeutics are frequently used in different parts of the world. Preclinical/clinical pharmacology studies have confirmed that some bioactive compounds may have beneficial therapeutic effects in some common CVDs. The natural products analyzed in this review are promising phytochemicals for adjuvant and complementary drug candidates in CVDs pharmacotherapy, and some of them have already been approved by the FDA. There are insufficient clinical studies to compare the effectiveness of natural products compared to approved therapeutics for the treatment of CVDs. Further long-term studies are needed to accelerate the potential of using natural products for these diseases. Despite this undoubted beneficence on CVDs, there are no strong breakthroughs supporting the implementation of natural products in clinical practice. Nevertheless, they are promising agents in the supplementation and co-therapy of CVDs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jelica Grujić-Milanović
- Institute for Medical Research, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Department of Cardiovascular Research, University of Belgrade, 11 000 Belgrade, Serbia;
| | - Jovana Rajković
- Institute for Pharmacology, Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11 000 Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Sladjan Milanović
- Institute for Medical Research, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Department for Biomechanics, Biomedical Engineering and Physics of Complex Systems, University of Belgrade, 11 000 Belgrade, Serbia;
| | - Vesna Jaćević
- Department for Experimental Toxicology and Pharmacology, National Poison Control Centre, Military Medical Academy, 11 000 Belgrade, Serbia;
- Medical Faculty of the Military Medical Academy, University of Defense, 11 000 Belgrade, Serbia
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Hradec Kralove, 500 002 Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
| | - Zoran Miloradović
- Institute for Medical Research, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Department of Cardiovascular Research, University of Belgrade, 11 000 Belgrade, Serbia;
| | - Lana Nežić
- Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Save Mrkalja 14, 78000 Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina;
| | - Radmila Novaković
- Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering, Center for Genome Sequencing and Bioinformatics, University of Belgrade, 11 000 Belgrade, Serbia;
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