Does Fish Oil Help Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a form of arthritis that causes pain,
swelling, stiffness and loss of function in your joints. It can affect
any joint but is common in the wrist and fingers. Rheumatoid arthritis
is different from osteoarthritis, the common arthritis that often comes
with older age. Rheumatoid Arthritis can affect body parts besides
joints, such as your eyes, mouth and lungs. it is an autoimmune disease,
which means the arthritis results from your immune system attacking
your body’s own tissues.
No one knows what causes rheumatoid arthritis. Genes, environment and
hormones might contribute. Treatments include medicine, lifestyle
changes and surgery. These can slow or stop joint damage and reduce pain
and swelling
My expertise is in the natural product field, I have no medical
training (although have a daughter a pharmacist) so am not qualified to
talk on the research on medical drugs. However a paper called Cutting
Edge Treatments (link given in the resource box) may give you some
information on pharmacy type treatments. My only worry with them is the
side effects, particularly as they effect on heart attack / strokes.
Looking at natural products there are a wide range of herbs and spices
touted, some limited evidence for some but none I would personally
recommend. However Omega 3 fish oil is a different matter. All properly
randomised and double blinded trials I can find show positive results.
While it will not cure the disease it appears to delay the progression
and give pain relief. This pain relief often allows a reduction in the
prescribed drug regime. A summary of some of the fish oil research
called Fish Oils and Rheumatoid Arthritis is also given in the resource
box.
The amount of fish oil needed to achieve the research results is
quite high. Much higher than that needed to get the heart and brain
benefits that the fish oils confer. It would seem to me that 3-6
capsules daily are needed and it would take some 12 weeks for the
effects to be felt.
One of the reasons that Omega 3 (EPA/DHA) work is that our modern
diet contains far too much Omega 6 and this causes inflammation. Some
research indicates that the current ratio in the Western World is in the
order of 25 to 1. Early in our development it was closer to 1 to 1. The
supplementation by Omega 3 combats and reduces the negative effects of
the excessive Omega 6.
Also important is the EPA/DHA ratio. In all common Omega 3 capsules
found in our health food shops and pharmacies the EPA is 18% and the DHA
is 12% (this is either from North American salmon oil or South American
sardine oil). This is also the ratio used in most research as it is the
common standard fish oil and can be produce very cheaply.
However the more important one of the two in heart and brain health is
DHA and another paper “Why Fish Oils help with Conditions like
Rheumatoid Arthritis” also given in the resource box indicate that this
may be true in Rheumatoid Arthritis as well.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a form of arthritis that causes pain,
swelling, stiffness and loss of function in your joints. It can affect
any joint but is common in the wrist and fingers. Rheumatoid arthritis
is different from osteoarthritis, the common arthritis that often comes
with older age. Rheumatoid Arthritis can affect body parts besides
joints, such as your eyes, mouth and lungs. it is an autoimmune disease,
which means the arthritis results from your immune system attacking
your body's own tissues.
No one knows what causes rheumatoid
arthritis. Genes, environment and hormones might contribute. Treatments
include medicine, lifestyle changes and surgery. These can slow or stop
joint damage and reduce pain and swelling
My expertise is in the
natural product field, I have no medical training (although have a
daughter a pharmacist) so am not qualified to talk on the research on
medical drugs. However a paper called Cutting Edge Treatments (link
given in the resource box) may give you some information on pharmacy
type treatments. My only worry with them is the side effects,
particularly as they effect on heart attack / strokes.
Looking at
natural products there are a wide range of herbs and spices touted, some
limited evidence for some but none I would personally recommend.
However Omega 3 fish oil is a different matter. All properly randomized
and double blinded trials I can find show positive results. While it
will not cure the disease it appears to delay the progression and give
pain relief. This pain relief often allows a reduction in the prescribed
drug regime. A summary of some of the fish oil research called Fish
Oils and Rheumatoid Arthritis is also given in the resource box.
The
amount of fish oil needed to achieve the research results is quite
high. Much higher than that needed to get the heart and brain benefits
that the fish oils confer. It would seem to me that 3-6 capsules daily
are needed and it would take some 12 weeks for the effects to be felt.
One
of the reasons that Omega 3 (EPA/DHA) work is that our modern diet
contains far too much Omega 6 and this causes inflammation. Some
research indicates that the current ratio in the Western World is in the
order of 25 to 1. Early in our development it was closer to 1 to 1. The
supplementation by Omega 3 combats and reduces the negative effects of
the excessive Omega 6.
Also important is the EPA/DHA ratio. In all
common Omega 3 capsules found in our health food shops and pharmacies
the EPA is 18% and the DHA is 12% (this is either from North American
salmon oil or South American sardine oil). This is also the ratio used
in most research as it is the common standard fish oil and can be
produce very cheaply.
However the more important one of the two in
heart and brain health is DHA and another paper "Why Fish Oils help
with Conditions like Rheumatoid Arthritis" also given in the resource
box indicate that this may be true in Rheumatoid Arthritis as well.
The Wise Old Owl found at
http://www.seniorhealthcare.co.nz where there is more information on Omega 3
Other references referred to in the text are
http://www.oilofpisces.com/rheumatoidarthritis.htm http://www.arthritistoday.org/conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis/ra-treatment/rheumatoid-arthritis-treatments.php http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028142227.htm