n-3 Fatty acid supplements in rheumatoid arthritis

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Hi All,

Here is a very interesting paper showing the power of Omega 3 fatty acids to

significantly reduce the effects of

rheumatoid arthritis:

n-3 Fatty acid supplements in rheumatoid arthritis

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/71/1/349S

ABSTRACT

Ingestion of dietary supplements of n-3 fatty acids has been consistently shown

to reduce both the number of tender

joints on physical examination and the amount of morning stiffness in patients

with rheumatoid arthritis. In these

cases, supplements were consumed daily in addition to background medications and

the clinical benefits of the n-3 fatty

acids were not apparent until they were consumed for 12 wk.

It appears that a minimum daily dose of 3 g eicosapentaenoic [EPA..gw] and

docosahexaenoic [DHA..gw] acids is necessary

to derive the expected benefits.

These doses of n-3 fatty acids are associated with significant reductions in the

release of leukotriene B4 from

stimulated neutrophils and of interleukin 1 from monocytes. Both of these

mediators of inflammation are thought to

contribute to the inflammatory events that occur in the rheumatoid arthritis

disease process. Several investigators have

reported that rheumatoid arthritis patients consuming n-3 dietary supplements

were able to lower or discontinue their

background doses of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs or disease-modifying

antirheumatic drugs. Because the methods

used to determine whether patients taking n-3 supplements can discontinue taking

these agents are variable, confirmatory

and definitive studies are needed to settle this issue. n-3 Fatty acids have

virtually no reported serious toxicity in

the dose range used in rheumatoid arthritis and are generally very well

tolerated.

CONCLUSIONS

On the basis of the totality of the data, it is recommended that patients

consume dietary supplements containing 3–6 g

n-3 fatty acids daily for 12 wk.

The dietary supplement should not replace the standard therapeutic medical

regimen, but be added to it.

Note, however, that there are many forms of arthritis and that clinical studies

demonstrating efficacy have been

performed only in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

After taking n-3 fatty acid dietary supplements for 3–4 mo, patients may try

reducing their NSAID dose under the

supervision of a physician.

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Here is another (abstract only). Note that in this study Omega 6 LA intake was

held to under 10 g per day.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_uids=1\

1036827 & dopt=Abstract

J Rheumatol 2000 Oct;27(10):2343-6 Books, LinkOut

Efficacy of fish oil concentrate in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Volker D, Fitzgerald P, Major G, Garg M.

Discipline of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences,

and the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology

and Biostatistics, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the efficacy of fish oil derived (n-3) fatty acid supplementation

(3-6 capsules/day) in subjects with

rheumatoid arthritis (RA) whose (n-6) fatty acid intake in the background diet

was < 10 g/day, compared to olive/corn

oil capsule supplement over a 15 week period.

METHODS:

A placebo controlled, double blind, randomized 15 week study to determine the

effect of supplementation on clinical

variables in 50 subjects with RA whose background diet was naturally low in

(n-6) fatty acids. Fish oil containing 60%

(n-3) fatty acids was supplemented at a rate of 40 mg/kg body weight.

RESULTS:

Analysis of 9 clinical variables indicated there was a significant difference (p

< 0.02) between control and treatment

groups. Five subjects in the treatment group and 3 in the control group met the

American College of Rheumatology 20%

improvement criteria. Dietary supplementation resulted in a significant increase

in eicosapentaenoic acid in plasma and

monocyte lipids in the supplemented group.

CONCLUSION:

The findings suggest that fish oil supplementation that delivers (n-3) fatty

acids at a dose of 40 mg/kg body

weight/day, with dietary (n-6) fatty acid intake < 10 g/day in the background

diet, results in substantial cellular

incorporation of (n-3) fatty acids and improvements in clinical status in

patients with RA.

PMID: 11036827 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Good Health & Long Life,

Greg ,

gowatson@...