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Respiratory symptoms and atopy in children in Aberdeen: questionnaire studies of a defined school population repeated over 35 years

BMJ 2004; 329 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.38139.666447.F7 (Published 26 August 2004) Cite this as: BMJ 2004;329:489

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Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end...

I greatly enjoy most of Dr. Grant's comments as they contain little
in the way of filler or paddings, it's almost all substance.
She laments the sharp increase in some of the modern illnesses, these are
called "the modern nutritional diseases" by Drs Alice and Fred Ottoboni in
their book of the same title.
A small omission seems to have ocurred, however: the fact that most of us
lack omega-3 essential fatty acids, that is, the balance between n-6 and n
-3 is badly out of kilter.
Rudin and Horrobin have carried on from the original Johanna Budwig of
Freudenstadt, Germany and it is very good to see that cardiologists and
others are beginning to implement these life-improving and often life-
saving procedures.
Leaving the subject of cardiac arrhythmias for a future discussion, I
would like to mention the clinical use of n-3 for various conditions, such
as Attention Deficit problems,
skin diseases, schizophrenia and manic depressive illness and a multitude
of other ailments (including malignancies) of modern man.
The best results I have observed are those that can be achieved with
asthma and eczema.
Rudin talks about Dietary Deviations and Disease Correlations and his book
"The Omega-3 Phenomenon" is good reading.
Some clouds, however are on the horizon: Fish is set to become inedible in
our lifetime in many parts of the world.

Competing interests:
None declared

Competing interests: No competing interests

30 August 2004
Dr. Herbert H. Nehrlich
Private Practice
Bribie Island, Australia 4507