This is a comment to an older post that I did not want anyone to miss. Thank you so much, Eve!
Metametrix Clinical Laboratory does offer testing of these fatty acids in a few different profiles. One that is quite popular due to the ease of specimen collection is the Fatty Acid Bloodspot Profile. It requires only a finger stick, and will measure levels of the Omega-3 fatty acids ALA, EPA, and DHA. It reports several Omega-6 fatty acids including arachidonic acid, the pro-inflammatory fatty acid. Tran-fatty acids are measured, giving important insight into dietary trans-fat intake, something that has gained notoriety in the news. And finally, the ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 is reported which is a useful tool to monitor your dose of fish oils--the importance of which hormonewoman was mentioning above.
For a site dedicated to PCOS, it was nice to see a discussion on fatty acids. You've probably seen the recent publication by Liepa GU, Sengupta A, Karsies D. in Nutrition in Clinical Practice Feb 2008: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and other androgen excess-related conditions: can changes in dietary intake make a difference? And indeed they do recommend omega-3 fatty acids to improve patient outcomes. The question always boils down to"How much?"
Thank you hormonewoman for taking the time to discuss the fish oil facts.
Eve Bralley, PhD
Metametrix Clinical Laboratory