Cod-liver supplement might delay OA cartilage damage, reduce pain

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Rheumawire

Feb 18, 2004

Cod-liver supplement might delay OA cartilage damage, reduce pain

Cardiff, Wales - Cod-liver-oil supplements slow the destruction of joint

cartilage in osteoarthritis (OA) patients, potentially curtailing the

need for multiple joint-replacement surgeries later in life, a new study

suggests [1].

The in vivo study, announced at a press conference at the Royal College

of Surgeons in London, UK, and being submitted for presentation later

this year, showed that tissues from 86% of preoperative

joint-replacement patients who took 2000 mg of cod-liver oil daily (via

2 1000-mg supplements) for approximately 3 months had absent or

significantly reduced levels of the cartilage-destroying enzymes

collagenase and aggrecanase, compared with 26% of those given placebo.

Moreover, patients taking cod-liver oil showed a marked reduction in

some of the gene expression levels of factors that propagate

inflammation in arthritic disease.

" Dietary supplementation of foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, including

oil fish or cod-liver oil, can slow the progression of degenerative

joint disease and reduce some of the factors that propagate this

destruction and inflammation, " lead investigator Dr Bruce Caterson

(Cardiff University, Wales UK) tells rheumawire. " By taking cod-liver

oil, people are more likely to delay the onset of osteoarthritis and

less likely to require multiple joint replacements later in life. "

Precisely what component of cod-liver oil has this effect remains

unclear, but researchers suspect it's the inflammation-fighting effects

of omega-3 fatty acids, the main components of cod-liver oil. " Taking 2

1000-mg capsules of cod-liver oil daily for 3 months could achieve these

changes in the majority of the patients, " Caterson says. " Our data

provide explanations at the molecular level of substances that can

reduce the progression of degenerative joint disease, and thus they

provide targets for new drug therapies. "

The study cohort included 25 patients on waiting lists to undergo

knee-joint-replacement surgery. Patients started taking tablets or

placebo 10 to 12 weeks before undergoing the surgery. At surgery,

samples of cartilage and joint tissue were taken from the knee joint and

analyzed.

The active capsules were highly purified cod-liver oil provided by Seven

Seas (Hull, UK), while the placebo was another oil mix that had the same

calorie content but no omega-3 fatty acids. Both capsules had 0.01%

peppermint oil added, so that the patients could not distinguish which

capsule they had taken. At least 1 of the placebo patients was also

taking steroids.

" All 3 of our primary investigators are taking cod-liver oil, " Caterson

tells rheumawire. " We believe in our research. "

Caterson and colleagues now hope to organize a larger study to test

whether cod-liver oil has a noticeable effect on pain levels and disease

progression, as this was not a conventional clinical trial with large

patient groups and subjective outcomes.

In a press release, Fergus Logan (Arthritis Research Campaign [ARC],

Chesterfield, UK) said: " These findings provide further proof that

taking cod-liver oil or eating lots of oily fish slows down cartilage

destruction in osteoarthritis. " ARC funded the new study.

He said that this was " great news for those people who have the

condition or worry about developing it and who want to do something

positive to help themselves. "

The new study confirms what many natural health experts have been saying

about cod-liver oil for decades, says Dr Carolyn Dean (Woman's Health

Connection, Nashville, TN), author of Natural Prescriptions for Common

Ailments (New York: McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books; 2nd ed, 2001).

" Anecdotal reports over many years have been that people who take

cod-liver oil have less inflammation because it supplies the essential

fatty acids that turn down inflammation, so it's good for symptoms of

arthritis, and now studies show that it also affects the breakdown of

cartilage. "

Dean says that most people can benefit from supplementing cod-liver oil

" especially in the winter months, because cod-liver oil is rich in

vitamin D. Everybody should be taking it, but people with OA don't need

huge dosesaround 400 to 600 units a day are all that's necessary. "

As many people dislike cod-liver-oil capsules because they have a fishy

aftertaste, Dean suggests that patients " freeze them and swallow them

frozen with a meal, so they don't repeat back on you. "

Mann

Source

1. Caterson B et al. Human proof that cod liver oil really can slow the

onset of osteoarthritis [press conference]. Eurekalert.org February 12,

2004. Available at:

http://www2.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-02/aaft-hpt021204.php.

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