Fish oil may reduce the risk of heart attack and improve overall heart health. Researchers at the Vet. Affairs Medical Center report that dha and epa, major components of fish oil, offer substantial protection against coronary heart disease.
Their study involved over 6,000 middle-aged men.
Researchers working at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center state that DPA and DHA, primary components of fish oil, provide substantial protection against coronary heart disease. This study involved more tha six thousand middle-aged men who had samples of their blood taken between 1973 and 1976. During the next seven years, 94 of these men had a heart attack or died suddenly due to heart disease. The 94 men were matched with 94 healthy men and the fatty acid profile of their blood samples compared. The researchers discovered that the 94 men with heart disease tended to have a higher serum level of the saturated fatty acid palmitic acid and stated that a high level of this acid increases the risk of CHD by 68 percent. Palmitic acid is the main saturated fatty acid in most diets. This acid is known to cause an increase in both total cholesterol and low-density cholesterol levels; the researchers, however, found that the detrimental effect of a high intake of palmitic acid persisted even after allowing for its cholesterol- increasing effect. The researchers also determined that men with a higher blood level of the Omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids, docosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid had an almost 50 percent lower risk of developing heart disease than did men with lower levels. Furthermore, the researchers found that men with CHD tended to have a higher serum level of Omega-6 fatty acids derived from linoleic acid.
Fish Oil may reduce heart attack fatalities by balancing certain electrical rhythms in the heart, thus preventing blood clots from forming. George Billman, professor of physiology at the Ohio State Univ., says that omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil make the tissues in the muscles of the heart less susceptible to damage caused by a lack of blood flow. It looks like omega-3 fatty acids protect against the changes induced by ischemia, said Billman. Billman, along with researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University Medical School, published the results of the study in a recent issue of the journal ‘Circulation’. The omega-3 fatty acids in the study seemed to do the work of anti-arrhythmic drugs. This work was funded by the American Heart Association, Ohio Valley Affiliate, and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Barry Sears, a leading authority in the field of drug delivery systems and dietary control of hormonal response, states that Research is increasingly emphasizing the broad benefits of high-grade fish oil.
Aaron Wilmont is an author and researcher regarding health issues. To find out more about Fish Oil, go to http://www.dr-sears-fishoil.com/
This article provides examples illustrating the advantages of a collaborative approach to diversity work in organizations over the expert approach that is more common in the field.
If you are trying to develop a program to address the issue of diversity in your organization, you will likely seek help from a diversity expert. I can tell you from my experience as a consultant, if your organization puts out a Request for Proposals around diversity, you will quickly receive a number of proposals from individuals and organizations all touting their expertise in the area of diversity consulting and training.
As you evaluate these consultants and trainers, however, I urge you to distinguish between their expertisethe consultants knowledge, skills, and experienceand whether or not they view their role as an expert consultant.
A story from my own consulting practice will illustrate the difference.
Case Example I was part of a team of consultants under contract with a 200-employee nonprofit service agency. The leadership of this organization was very committed to honoring diversity and invested a lot of money and time into developing a comprehensive diversity program. We, the consultants, were brought in as experts to help. We designed and implemented a substantial diversity project, including a needs assessment and the development of an organization-wide diversity council. Both the consulting team and the client were pleased with the results of the project. The Council helped make diversity an important part of the life of the organization at every level, and it still operates today.
However, the project was not nearly as effective as it could have been. When we did the needs assessment, we uncovered important organizational issues (hierarchical conflict, issues around delegation of authority) that were clearly connected to the diversity issues we were documenting, but they were, in fact, not diversity issues themselves. As such, the client asked us to leave those issues out. As experts, we obliged, but to the detriment of the effectiveness of the organization (those issues did not go away).
As we got into the implementation phase, our expert recommendations included the development of a strategic plan. Fortunately, we were experts in strategic planning, so we brought them through it step by step. When the client group was slow to complete their activities and consistently failed to follow through on promises, we stayed in our expert roleby actually finishing the plan for them. With the best of intentions, we made some short-term progress, but at the expense of long-term effectiveness.
An alternative to the expert consulting role is what Peter Block and others call the collaborative consulting role. When a consultant works in collaborative role, he still brings his expertise and specialized knowledge, but all steps of the consulting process, from assessment through implementation, involve collaboration between consultant and client. In the case described above, had we been in a collaborative role, we would have pushed back at the client when they shied away from addressing the conflict and authority issues. It still would have been their decision as to whether or not to address them, but our half of that partnership would require us to support them in going there. As for the underperforming planners, we would have sat down with the client to determine the source of the problem and co-designed a program to increase performance. That may not look like diversity work, but it would have had a direct impact on the success of the diversity work at hand.
So, what should you expect when working with more collaborative diversity consultants?
They wont always talk about diversity. An Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist still knows about your brain, heart, and lungs (and everything else she learned in medical school), and she will bring in that knowledge when it becomes relevant. The same is true in organizations. It is useful to treat diversity as a separate issue, but it will never be completely independent from other organizational issues like conflict resolution, organizational structure, roles and responsibilities, systems and processes, etc. When the diversity consultant takes you in those directions (where they link to diversity), go with him.
They will push you. If diversity were easy, you wouldnt need a consultant. It requires looking at tough issuesinequities in your organization, deeply held values and attitudes, conversations that are difficult to work throughand as a leader, you will need to show your employees that you can take the hard road when necessary. A good consultant will support as she pushes, but a consultant that does not push you at all will rarely get the results you are looking for.
They wont have all the answers (at least they wont give them to you). If you want a diversity consultant to do an assessment and then provide a list of specific recommendations about what you should do next, I know you can find several that will oblige. But be careful what you wish for. When the consultant tells you what to do, it robs you of the power to create your own organization. I know it sounds easier, but it often leads to low employee buy-in of the solution and chronic implementation delays. This is your organization, and you are smart enough to solve your own problems and make your own decisions. A good diversity consultant will help you, but he will not do it for you.
Conclusion In the end, a collaborative diversity-consulting project achieves the same goals that management consultants generally strive towards: empowering people and organizations to solve their own problems. By working collaboratively with the client to address the challenges and opportunities of diversity work in their organization, we model the kind of relationship we are trying to generate in a diverse workplace: one based on respect and value of the different power, knowledge, experience, and skills that each individual brings. So consider carefully both your approach to this work and the consultantsand beware of the expert. The success of your diversity initiative (and maybe your organization) depends on it.
About the Author
Jamie Notter is President of Notter Consulting, a firm specializing in increasing the the effectiveness and power of leaders, teams, and organizations through the strategic application of consulting, facilitation, and training. For more information, visit www.notterconsulting.com
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