Talk:Gamma-Linolenic acid

message: Change of bracketing reverted because the phrase within the brackets refers to the case where efficiency of conversion is impaired; the remainder of the sentence deals with the case where efficiency is not impaired but there is excessive consumption - it therefore belongs outside the brackets. Beechnut (talk) 20:22, 15 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I apologize, as I misread it from that context.  However, I also noticed that the source that is cited at the end of the sentence doesn't seem to refer to the examples in parentheses, but only the part after them that it is adjacent to.  Do you have sources for the examples that are in parentheses? mmortal03 (talk) 06:19, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: No problem.  As I understand the reference, Horrobin gives two examples (Atopic Eczema and Diabetes) where there is impairment of the production of GLA, but none where there is an excessive consumption of GLA - it is mentioned only in the abstract.  However he does cover the subject more thoroughly in Horrobin D.F. (1990) Gamma Linolenic-Acid.  Reviews in Contemporary Pharmacotherapy 1(1):1-41 and gives three situations where it may arise. 1) Where there are high rates of cell division (e.g. regenerating tissue or cancer). 2) Excessive fatty acid oxidation (e.g. During inflammation, alcoholism or malignancy). 3) Excessive mobilisation of arachidonic acid (e.g. During anti-inflammatory or antiviral responses).  We could use this reference instead of the one currently cited as it gives a wider treatment of the subject, but it's not available online and so is less accessible.  I'm easy either way. Beechnut (talk) 21:03, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Brackets in 'Dietary' section

message: I believe that the use of EPO for depression should be mentioned. This use is highly speculative, but it is a use of the oil. 67.168.59.171 21:10, 26 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Depression

message: This article contains a lot of unsourced and hard to believe claims. Unless some high quality sources can be brought to back them up, I'm going to remove all of the dubious claims to talk so they are not stated as fact in the article. I thought I'd note that here in order to give a chance to fix up the article instead of yanking it all out right now and/or adding a  tag to the article. Thanks - Taxman Talk 21:44, Jun 13, 2005 (UTC)
:I added the  tag, because as a casual reader this would not have been clear to me had I not read the talk page, and I think it's important to note. 67.168.59.171 21:41, 26 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: You are responding to a two year old dispute.  Unless there are some disputable facts in the current article that you can point to, there is no need for the  tag.  --Ed (Edgar181) 23:21, 26 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Cleaning up article

message: Moved these here as they had a 'fact' tag on for months with no response:
:It is strongly advised that people should not take GLA together with anticonvulsant medication.  It is also discouraged to take GLA over any sort of long term due to studies showing that it can lead to inflammation and other problems.
David.Throop 19:50, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Unsourced Statement

message: I suffered from exfoilative cheilitis and GLA cured me.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chueyjoo (talk • contribs) 19:44, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Chapped lips

message: (Ref recent edits by 216.221.35.153) Linoleic acid and linolenic acid are two different substances.  Both have 18 carbon atoms but linoleic acid has 2 double bonds and linolenic acid has three double bonds.  There are two common forms of linolenic acid which differ by the positions of the double bonds in the chain: alpha-linolenic acid is an omega-3 and gamma-linolenic acid is an omega-6.  See Essential fatty acid for the full story.  Beechnut (talk) 21:21, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Linoleic vs Linolenic

message: The article starts by saying "γ-Linolenic acid (GLA) ... is an essential fatty acid" then it later says "The human body produces GLA from linoleic acid (LA)" surly this contradicts the first statement that its an "Essential" fatty acid. I always though the term essential meant the body needs it and cannot reproduce it itself? The wiki definition is "Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are fatty acids that cannot be constructed within an organism (generally all references are to humans) from other components" But in the GLA article it says it can be made from Linoic acid, it also later explains that some people (elderly) cant reproduce it, so for them it is essential. But it seems this may need to be clarified. Or maybe I'm just getting confused for no reason. Lancswingchun (talk) 08:25, 7 July 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: It is reasonable to be confused :-)  GLA can be made in the body from linoleic acid (LA) and so, by one definition, it can't be an EFA.  On the other hand, if you make an organism EFA-deficient by depriving it of LA, GLA will relieve all the symptoms so, by that criterion, it is an EFA. In other words, LA achieves its major EFA actions through its conversion to GLA, so GLA can effectively replace it.  The same is true for stearidonic acid for the omega-3 pathway.  There is indeed an inconsistency between this article and the one on EFAs but IMHO it is the EFA one which needs to be modified.  Hope this helps.  Beechnut (talk) 20:04, 7 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Inconsistency? 

message: I have removed the sentence
"Additionally, steel-cut oats which are slow-cooked are a source of GLA, but only if they have not been toasted or steamed.http://www.netrition.com/mccanns_oats_page.html"
from the section "dietary sources."  The supporting reference is an advertisement for a specific brand of steel-cut oats which does not even support the claim about toasting or steaming.  The only mention of gamma-linolenic acid in this advertising page is:
"Oatmeal is the only food that naturally contains GLA (gamma linolenic acid) an essential fatty acid critical to the body's production of the favorable eicosanoids (PGE1 - prostaglandins). Eating steel-cut oats (very slow cooking) four times a week will provide you with a good supply of GLA."
Jay L09 (talk) 19:50, 18 February 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Oats and advertisements 

message: spirulina ia listed a a food source that has considerable quantities of GLA. However spirulina is bacteria, it is ~70% protein by raw weight. It is only 7.1 to 7.4% TOTAL fats, of which GLA is by far the largest share. But ~6% is not what I would call a "considerable quantity"... spirulina oil is not sold commercially because spirulina's low lipid content makes it considered unsuitable as a lipid source (it would cost a small fortune).  although I don't know, whole milk is ~4% lipid so maybe for food sources it counts. I would rephrase with "the lipid content of spirulina". --— robbie page talk 18:08, 25 July 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  what qualifies as "considerable"? 

message: The cancer information is interesting, and should be kept, but conformed to state no more than the underlying sources.  
The study 
J Nutr. 1998 Sep;128(9):1411-4.
Importance of dietary gamma-linolenic acid in human health and nutrition.
seems at most to suggest a theoretical possibility perhaps worth investigating, not any clinical or even population outcomes.  
The BBC article concludes:
:"However, there is no evidence to suggest that taking GLA supplements can help prevent cancer. The best ways to reduce the risk of cancer are to avoid smoking and keep a healthy body weight."
:Dr Sarah Rawlings of Breakthrough Breast Cancer said: "These early findings are interesting, however, this research does not suggest that women with breast cancer should routinely take evening primrose oil and any woman with questions about treatment should discuss them with her doctor."  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ocdnctx (talk • contribs) 21:46, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  The anti-cancer claims don't seem to be adequately supported by the footnotes.  

message: David Horrobin's papers were not peer reviewed, lacked scientific method, and were largely self-published. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Horrobin They should be removed or at the minimum corroborated with other evidence that isn't referencing this dubious paper. I am not aware of any in existence.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.117.39.210 (talk) 20:31, 9 September 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  David Horrobin's papers are very dubious in nature. 

message: Substituted at 15:47, 29 April 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Assessment comment

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