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LOS ANGELES – In an extraordinary upbeat study, researchers analyzing toxin levels in tens of thousands of drive clippings observed that metal from intake seek does not improve the venture of hunch disease or stroke.

Health experts hit daylong urged people to take seek to lower hunch risks, but some hit worried that the metal in certain types of seek same shark and swordfish strength offset any benefits. Earlier studies on metal and hunch problems in adults hit yielded contradictory results.

The stylish government-funded impact is the maximal to look at this question. Instead of relying on what people said they ate, it rhythmic metal in their toenails — a beatific judge of long-term exposure to the metal from seek consumption.

No differences were seen in the rates of hunch and attack among those with the maximal concentrations of metal compared to those with the lowest.

"The cipher mortal should take seek as conception of a healthy diet," and not vexation most stricken hunch effects, said altruist School of Public Health cardiologist Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, who led the investigate publicised in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

Mercury occurs course in soil and rocks, including coal. It gets into the air from coal-fired noesis plants and another sources, and settles into water. Small seek ingest metal when they take on plankton, and they, in turn, are eaten by bigger fish. Older and larger predator seek — same shark, swordfish and power mackerel — run to accumulate the maximal metal levels.

In broad quantities, the metal crapper alteration the developing mentality and troubled grouping of teen children and is a primary concern for pregnant women because of possibleness alteration to the fetus.

The newborn investigate in adults used aggregation from two studies of 174,000 upbeat professionals. Some participants sent in drive clippings when the impact started decades ago.

Since toenails grow slowly and at assorted rates, they are favored over murder samples because they wage a more accurate represent of long-term metal exposure. Toenails are also easy to amass and crapper be stored cheaply.

After an cipher of 11 years, 3,500 participants who had given nab samples had suffered strokes or developed hunch disease. Researchers compared them to an equal sort of participants who did not develop those upbeat problems.

After adjusting for factors such as age, gender and smoking, there was no link between metal exposure and risks for hunch disease or stroke. This was genuine modify at broad exposure where the cipher drive metal levels were 1 microgram per gramme — roughly twice the recommended limit for pregnant women.

The American Heart Association recommends that adults take seek at least twice a week. Pregnant women and teen children are wise to refrain seek with the maximal metal concentrations and limit themselves to 12 ounces of seek a hebdomad such as shrimp, salmon and catfish, which include lower metal levels.

While seek contains heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, consumers should also ammo out their diet with whole grains and fruits and vegetables, experts say.

"Fish intake is important, but we also hit to conceive most the whole package," said Alice Lichtenstein, a Tufts University nutrition academic and spokeswoman for the hunch group, who was not involved in the research.

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Online:

EPA: http://www.epa.gov/mercury/advisories.htm

Journal: http://www.nejm.org

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