Another take on fish, pregnancy and mercury

Eric Nagourney, "Another take on fish, pregnancy and mercury",
International Herald Tribune, October 27, 2005,
Link: http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/...ce/snsigns.php

Health officials should think carefully before issuing advisories
recommending that women of childbearing age limit their intake of fish,
new research suggests.

The warnings are intended to protect fetuses from mercury, which
concentrates in some fish and, at high enough levels, can damage the
brains of the babies. But in a series of articles in the current
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers say the advisories
may be detrimental to public health, since the fatty acids in fish help
prevent serious problems like stroke and heart disease. There is also
evidence that they help prenatal brains develop.

"These and other potential health effects yield a classic risk-risk
trade-off," wrote the lead researcher, Joshua Cohen of the Harvard
School of Public Health.

Harvard researchers asked experts from a number of universities to
review the literature and decide whether the benefits of reducing
mercury in pregnant women's diets was worth the loss of the fatty
acids.

"I think we've got two messages," Cohen said. "If you're not pregnant
and you're not going to become pregnant, eat fish. If you are pregnant
or you are going to become pregnant, you should still eat fish, but you
should eat fish low in mercury."

The researchers said that government advisories are directed at women
of childbearing age, but some experts believe they keep other people
away from fish, too. And instead of avoiding just those fish high in
mercury, like swordfish and king mackerel, some women avoid all fish.

Roman Bystrianyk wrote:
Eric Nagourney, "Another take on fish, pregnancy and mercury",
International Herald Tribune, October 27, 2005,
Link: http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/...ce/snsigns.php

Health officials should think carefully before issuing advisories
recommending that women of childbearing age limit their intake of fish,
new research suggests.

The warnings are intended to protect fetuses from mercury, which
concentrates in some fish and, at high enough levels, can damage the
brains of the babies. But in a series of articles in the current
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers say the advisories
may be detrimental to public health, since the fatty acids in fish help
prevent serious problems like stroke and heart disease. There is also
evidence that they help prenatal brains develop.

"These and other potential health effects yield a classic risk-risk
trade-off," wrote the lead researcher, Joshua Cohen of the Harvard
School of Public Health.

Harvard researchers asked experts from a number of universities to
review the literature and decide whether the benefits of reducing
mercury in pregnant women's diets was worth the loss of the fatty
acids.

"I think we've got two messages," Cohen said. "If you're not pregnant
and you're not going to become pregnant, eat fish. If you are pregnant
or you are going to become pregnant, you should still eat fish, but you
should eat fish low in mercury."

The researchers said that government advisories are directed at women
of childbearing age, but some experts believe they keep other people
away from fish, too. And instead of avoiding just those fish high in
mercury, like swordfish and king mackerel, some women avoid all fish.


Since the predominant form of mercury in fish is methyl mercury, more
attention to industrial mercury polution must be made. This focus on
dental amalgams and thimerosal is diversionary and is causing such
problems as cited in this article.