Diagnose-Me: Condition: EFA (Essential Fatty Acid) Requirement

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	EFA (Essential Fatty Acid) Requirement

EFA / Essential Fatty Acid Deficiency
Signs, symptoms, indicators
Conditions that suggest it
Contributing risk factors
It can lead to...
Treatment recommendations


	Please refer to the discussion of this topic in the Recommendations/Treatments section. This knowledge will help you decide what you should do as you read about "Essential Fatty Acids" there.

Signs, symptoms & indicators of EFA (Essential Fatty Acid) Requirement:

Supplements and Medications	Aspirin is effective pain reliever
Symptoms - Food - Preferences	Fatty food craving
Symptoms - Head - Ears	(Some/much) ear wax accumulation
Symptoms - Metabolic	Sun-induced headaches
Symptoms - Muscular	Leg cramps caused by walking Tightness across shoulders
Symptoms - Nails	Brittle fingernails
Symptoms - Skin - Conditions	History of adult acne
Symptoms - Skin - General	Thin/thick cracked heel calluses

Conditions that suggest EFA (Essential Fatty Acid) Requirement:

Diabetes Type I

Circulation

Poor/Slow Wound Healing

Failure to provide either omega-6 or omega-3 fatty acids in the diet results in poor wound healing.

Yeast / Candida Infection

Inflammation

Chronic Inflammation

In order to maintain proper balance of the antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory prostaglandins (PGE1 and PGE3) with the pro-spasmodic and pro-inflammatory prostaglandins (PGE2), it is critical to have the proper balance of essential fatty acids. Without adequate amounts of both Omega-3 and Omega-6 oils in the diet, prostaglandin production will be reduced and problems may result.

High Total Cholesterol

EFA (Essential Fatty Acid) Type 6 Requirement

EFA (Essential Fatty Acid) Type 3 Requirement

Skin-Hair-Nails

A diet low in essential fatty acids can result in skin problems, such as dandruff.

Male Hair Loss

Essential fatty acid deficiency can results in dry, brittle hair and hair thinning or loss.

Female Hair Loss

Essential fatty acid deficiency can results in dry, brittle hair and hair thinning or loss.

Uro-Genital

Fibrocystic Breast Disease

Fatty acid profiles may be abnormal in women with fibrocystic breast disease. Treatment with essential fatty acids may help to normalize this. [Plasma fatty acid profiles in benign breast disorders. Br J Surg, 1992 May, 79:5, pp.407-9]

Risk factors for EFA (Essential Fatty Acid) Requirement:

Symptoms - Food - Intake

(High) hydrogenated fat consumption

EFA (Essential Fatty Acid) Requirement can lead to:

Circulation

Poor/Slow Wound Healing

Failure to provide either omega-6 or omega-3 fatty acids in the diet results in poor wound healing.

Recommendations and treatments for EFA (Essential Fatty Acid) Requirement:

Digestion	Digestive Enzyme (Trial)
Nutrient	Essential Fatty Acids

KEY

		Weak or unproven link
		Strong or generally accepted link
		Proven definite or direct link
		Likely to help
		Highly recommended

GLOSSARY

Anti-inflammatory (Antiinflammatory)
Reducing inflammation by acting on body mechanisms, without directly acting on the cause of inflammation, e.g., glucocorticoids, aspirin.

Antispasmodic
Preventing spasms.

Benign
Literally: innocent; not malignant. Often used to refer to cells that are not cancerous; they tend to grow slowly and don't spread (metastasize) like cancer tumors do.

Essential Fatty Acid (EFA, EFAs, Essential Fatty Acids)
A substance that the human body cannot manufacture and therefore must be supplied in the diet.

Fatty Acids (Fatty Acid)
Chemical chains of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms that are part of a fat (lipid) and are the major component of triglycerides. Depending on the number and arrangement of these atoms, fatty acids are classified as either saturated, polyunsaturated, or monounsaturated. They are nutritional substances found in nature which include cholesterol, prostaglandins, and stearic, palmitic, linoleic, linolenic, eicosapentanoic (EPA), and decohexanoic acids. Important nutritional lipids include lecithin, choline, gamma-linoleic acid, and inositol.

Prostaglandin (Prostaglandins)
Any of a class of physiologically active substances present in many tissues, with effects such as vasodilation, vasoconstriction, stimulation of the smooth muscles of the bronchus or intestine, uterine stimulation; also involved in pain, inflammation, fever, allergic diarrhea, and dysmenorrhea. A potent hormone -- similar in structure to an unsaturated fatty acid -- that acts in extremely low concentrations on local target organs; first isolated from the prostate.

Last updated: Sep 28, 2008

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