Rheumatoid arthritis is a condition that's characterised by inflammation of the joints as well as other organs in the body.
And NSAIDs or anti inflammatory drugs are often used to relieve symptoms such as stiffness, pain and swelling.
However, as with all medications there are side effects that can occur. And sometimes they are not fully effective.
That's where natural remedies can help treat inflammatory conditions, as an adjunct or in addition to traditional medicine.
Here's a study of whether high dose omega 3 fatty acids in the form of fish oil helps rheumatoid arthritis.
The study looked at both arthritis symptoms as well as serum or blood markers of inflammation.
The study had just over sixty patients, and was a double blind, placebo controlled study .
One set of patient were given fish oil while the placebo group had corn oil. Both groups were on their NSAID.
After 18 weeks of treatment, the NSAID drug was then substituted with a placebo.
In the patients taking fish oil, there ware;
1. a reduction in the number of tender joints
2. a reduction in length of time of morning stiffness
3. a reduction in disease activity reported
4. a decrease in the levels of IL-1 beta in the serum, which is a marker of inflammation
However, with the corn oil patients there was no difference.
Also, when the NSAID was ceased, the improvement in the number of painful joints was still there after 2 months. And this was seen in the omega 3 group and not the placebo.
In some patients, they were able to stop their NSAID without an exacerbation of their symptoms.
In the group taking fish oils in summary, there was improvements in both symptoms as well as blood markers.
More studies and larger studies would be good to help further characterise the benefit that fish oil may have on they symptoms of arthritis
This study seems to be promising and perhaps fish oil will turn out to be a helpful addition to treatment of arthritis as well as it's other health benefits.
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