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Mineral Oil
Yes, very long-chain fatty acids seems very problematic if they begin to really accumulate. In the quote above for mice and humans they talked about certain very long-chain fatty acids, about C23-C25, being the somewhat of a cut-off point where they could see problematic accumulation in their limited experiments.
To see more what accumulation of very long-chain fatty acids might cause, I found some rare disease in which very long-chaim fatty acids can't be broken down. Here is a site on rare diseases describing one such rare disease: Very long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (VLCADD) [Prevalence of 1 per 40 000 infants]
https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/very-long-chain-acyl-coa-dehydrogenase-deficiency-lcad/
Some quotes from that site:
"Very long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (VLCADD) is a rare genetic disorder of fatty acid metabolism that is transmitted in an autosomal recessive pattern. It occurs when an enzyme needed to break down certain very long-chain fatty acids is missing or not working properly. VLCADD is one of the metabolic diseases known as fatty acid oxidation (FOD) diseases.
[...]
The breakdown of fatty acids takes place in the mitochondria found in each cell. The mitochondria are small, well-defined structures that are found in the cytoplasm of cells and in which energy is generated from the breakdown of complex substances into simpler ones (mitochondrial oxidation).
Classically, two forms of VLCADD have been described: an early-onset, severe form which, if unrecognized and undiagnosed, can lead to extreme weakness of the heart muscles (cardiomyopathy) and be life-threatening, and a later-onset, milder form that is characterized by repeated bouts of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). In reality, patients can present with a combination of symptoms and the disease is best thought of as being a continuum. Since the advent of expanded newborn screening programs using tandem mass spectrometry technology, most VLCADD infants in the United States are being detected neonatal period."
Some biomarkers of people with VLCADD:
"In individuals with the disorder, urine organic acid analysis typically reveals reduced or absent ketone bodies and elevated levels of certain dicarboxylic acids (i.e., dicarboxylic aciduria, e.g., increased C6-C10, C12-C14 dicarboxylic acids). In some cases, there may be increased blood levels of the enzyme creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and the abnormal presence of myoglobin in the urine (myoglobinuria)."
There is also a quote about treatment of infants and how fasting is awful for those with VLCADD:
"Disease management and treatment are primarily directed toward preventing and controlling acute episodes. Newborns should not fast more than 4 hours (including at night) for the first 6 months of age. This can be increased gradually to 8 hours over the next 6 months of age, then 8-12 hours after age 3. Additional preventive measures include maintaining a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, with frequent feeding (i.e., to keep periods of fasting to a minimum). Additional recommendations include the use of low-fat nutritional supplements and medium-chain triglycerides (e.g., MCT oil). Supplementation with carnitine (Carnitor) is somewhat controversial and most metabolic physicians will wait until laboratory evidence of carnitine deficiency develops before prescribing it. Riboflavin, sometimes recommended in the past, does not seem to be beneficial."
There is another rare disease causing accumulation of some very long-chain fatty acids which also causes tons of health problems. That rare condition is called "Adrenoleukodystrophy" with a prevalence around 1 per 18 000-50 000. That condition causes high accumulation of the very long-chain fatty acid "Cerotic acid" (C26:0), a saturated fatty acid.
Here is a description from wikipedia about what happens with Adrenoleukodystrophy:
"Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a disease linked to the X chromosome. It is a result of fatty acid buildup caused by peroxisomal fatty acid beta oxidation which results in the accumulation of very long chain fatty acids in tissues throughout the body. The most severely affected tissues are the myelin in the central nervous system, the adrenal cortex, and the Leydig cells in the testes. The long chain fatty acid buildup causes damage to the myelin sheath of the neurons of the brain, resulting in seizures and hyperactivity. Other symptoms include problems in speaking, listening, and understanding verbal instructions."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenoleukodystrophy
Here are some helpful dietary intervensions found for Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) that slowed the progress of the disease, resulting in the formulation called Lorenzo's oil.
"Initial attempts at dietary therapy in ALD involved restricting the intake of very-long chain fatty acids (VLCFA). Dietary intake is not the only source for VLCFA in the body, as they are also synthesized endogenously. This dietary restriction did not impact the levels of VLCFA in plasma and other body tissues.[2] After the realization that endogenous synthesis was an important contribution to VLCFA in the body, efforts at dietary therapy shifted to inhibiting these synthetic pathways in the body. The parents of Lorenzo Odone, a boy with ALD, spearheaded efforts to develop a dietary treatment to slow the progression of the disease. They developed a mixture of unsaturated fatty acids (glycerol trioleate and glyceryl trierucate in a 4:1 ratio), known as Lorenzo's oil that inhibits elongation of saturated fatty acids in the body.[2][8] Supplementation with Lorenzo's oil has been found to normalize the VLCFA concentrations in the body, although its effectiveness at treating the cerebral manifestations of the disease is still controversial and unproven.[14]"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenoleukodystrophy
There is a 1992 movie called "Lorenzo's Oil" and is about how Lorenzo's father, Augusto Odone (economist at the World Bank), and mother, Michaela Odone neé Murphy, tries to save their son Lorenzo Michael Murphy Odone. Unfortuantely Lorenzo died totally paralyzed after just turning 30 years old in 2008. So Lorenzo's oil evidently was no cure for ALD and very long-chain fatty acid accumulation.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto,_Michaela,_and_Lorenzo_Odone
PS. Here is the wikipedia list of saturated fatty acids that can help to put very long-chain fatty acids (C22 and longer) in perspective to other saturated fatty acids:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_saturated_fatty_acids
Here is also wikipedia page on very long-chaim fatty acids: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_long_chain_fatty_acid
Quote from lil chick on December 27, 2022, 9:41 amSo is vaseline not a good thing to use on chapped lips and cracked fingers?
I kind of thought it would be veg-toxin free and it works good.
I would think it depends on how much you use, I don't know how much vaselin with petrolatum is absorbed from one's cracked skin.
Personally I use pure lanolin, which is meant to be used by breast feeding mother on sore nipples (I saw someone else somewhere recommend lanolin for cracked skin). The brand name for the lanolin I use is "Purlan" from the Swiss company "Medela AG".