Linoleic and docosahexaenoic acids in human milk have opposite relationships with cognitive test performance in a sample of 28 countries.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids play critical roles in brain development and function, and their levels in human breast milk closely reflect the long-term diet. The fatty acid contents of human milk samples from 28 countries were used to predict averaged 2009 and 2012 test scores in mathematics, reading, and science from the Program for International Student Assessment. All test scores were positively related to milk docosahexaenoic acid (r=0.48 to 0.55), and negatively related to linoleic acid (r=-0.28 to -0.56). Together, these two human milk fatty acids explained 46% to 48% of the variance in scores, with no improvement in predictive power when socioeconomic variables were added to the regression. The (log) ratio of linoleic to arachidonic acid was negatively related to scores (r=-0.45 to -0.48). Statistical effects were similar for the two sexes. In a separate US sample, estimated dietary linoleic was negatively related to the levels of all long-chain n-3 and n-6 plasma fatty acids. High levels of dietary linoleic may impair cognition by decreasing both docosahexaenoic and arachidonic acids in the brain.

A pharmaceutical profile of diabetic patients.

Although there have been innumerable studies documenting various aspects of the morbidity caused by diabetes mellitus in the population, very little attention has been paid to patterns of therapeutic management of diabetic patients. The United States Public Health Service Ambulatory Care Data System (USPHS ACDS), a computerized patient information entry and recording system with a complete pharmaceutical record for each patient, was used to compare patterns of pharmaceutical consumption among diabetic patients as opposed to non-diabetic patients in a population of approximately 90,000 individuals. Drug use by diabetics was significantly higher than by non-diabetics. Cardiovascular drug use, in particular, was considerably higher. Substantially higher consumption of anti-lipemic agents, anti-gout drugs, anti-hypertensives, sedatives and tranquilizers was also found in the diabetic population. The higher use of all drugs by diabetics could be partially explained by a demonstrably higher frequency of out-patient visits by diabetics. However this factor alone could not account for very much higher use of certain selective drug groups by the diabetics. In most cases, these selective increases among the diabetics paralleled expected patterns of disease for which those drug groups are prescribed. The investigation of pharmacotherapeutic profiles of the diabetic population adds a new dimension to the epidemiological study of this disease.