Released on: April 11, 2008, 5:30 am

Press Release Author: Jane Reinhardt-Martin, RD, LD

Industry: Healthcare

Press Release Summary: Cafe Nirai will showcase the photography of John R. Burgreen
III from April 17 through 22. Though well known for his award-winning artistic
layouts and HDR Photography, this is the first exclusive viewing of John\'s work.

Press Release Body: Minnesota, US ( VirginiaPressRelease ) April 11, 2008 North
American Nutrition is your supplier of premium Golden Flaxseed, available on our
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Flaxseed Halts Prostate Cancer Growth New Study Shows A new US study suggests that
flaxseed, which is rich in omega 3 fatty acids and lignans, can stop prostate cancer
tumors from growing.

The study was presented at the 43rd annual meeting of the American Society of
Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago on Saturday by researchers from Duke University
Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.

The researchers think that flaxseed, which has similar properties to sesame seed,
probably interrupts the chain of events that eventually makes cells multiply out of
control and become a tumor.

Dr Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, a researcher in Duke\'s School of Nursing and lead
investigator on the study said that: \"Our previous studies in animals and in humans
had shown a Correlation between flaxseed supplementation and slowed tumor growth,
but the participants in those studies had taken flaxseed in conjunction with a
low-fat diet.\"

However, she explained that: \"For this study, we demonstrated that it is flaxseed
that primarily offers the protective benefit.\"

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, and researchers at the
University of Michigan and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill also took
part.

Demark-Wahnefried and colleagues recruited 161 men who were due to have surgery for
prostate cancer (prostatectomy: where all or part of the prostate gland is removed).

The patients were randomly assigned to one of four groups. One group took 30 grams
of flaxseed a day for an average of 30 days before they had the operation (the
flaxseed only group). Another group did the same but also followed a low-fat diet
(20 per cent or less of their calories from fat). A third group did not take the
flaxseed and only followed a low-fat diet, while the fourth group, a control, had
none of the interventions.

After the surgery, the researchers examined the tumour cells under a microscope to
assess how quickly they had multiplied.

They then compared the men who had only flaxseed, with or without following a
low-fat diet, with the men in the other two groups: no intervention and low-fat diet
only. They found that the slowest rate of tumour growth occurred in the two flaxseed
supplemented groups.

Demark-Wahnefried said: \"The results showed that the men who took just flaxseed as
well as those who took flaxseed combined with a low-fat diet did the best,
indicating that it is the flaxseed which is making the difference.\"

The flaxseed supplement was given in ground
form because in the whole form the seed coat is hard and undigestible. The patients
took the flaxseed either in drinks, sprinkled on food, or with yogurt.

Flaxseed is thought to stop the growth and spread of cancer cells. This could be
because the omega-3 fatty acids it contains interferes with the ability of cancer
cells to cling onto other body cells, said Demark-Wahnefried.

The lignans it contains may also have antiangiogenic properties, the ability to stop
the blood supply to the tumour.

Demark-Wahnefried said that they were \"excited that this study showed that flaxseed
is safe and associated with a protective effect on prostate cancer\".

In next phase of their research the team hopes to study the preventative properties
of flaxseed, and its effect on patients with recurrent prostate tumours.

As well as being antiangiogenic, the lignans in flaxseed, one of the richest sources
of these fibre-related compounds, are thought to interfere with or prevent cell
division and affect hormones.

They are antimitotic, affect androgen metabolism and have estrogenic effects, said
Demark-Wahnefried.

flaxseed is also the richest known source of
plant-based omega-3 fatty acids which affect the production of cell membranes, the
levels of natural killer cells and circulating levels of protein kinase C and
tyrosine kinases, which profoundly affect cell activity.

According to the American Cancer Society, one in six American men gets prostate
cancer. This year it is estimated that over 200,000 will be diagnosed with the
disease and 27,000 will die from it.

For more information about this article or Goldenflax, log on to

http://www.goldenflax.com
North American Nutrition
PO Box 456, Warroad, Minnesota 56763
(800) 387-5516

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Contact Details: http://www.goldenflax.com
North American Nutrition
PO Box 456, Warroad, Minnesota 56763
(800) 387-5516