Cod liver oil supplements reduce rheumatoid arthritis drug requirement

Rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis patients may be able to reduce their dose of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) by adding cod liver oil to their daily regimen, according to an article published online on March 24, 2008 in the journal Rheumatology.

Cod liver oil contains the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which can help inhibit the production of inflammatory prostaglandins and leukotrienes derived from arachidonic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid), and increase the production of less inflammatory substances. For the current study, researchers at centers in Dundee and Edinburgh, Scotland enrolled 97 rheumatoid arthritis patients who were being treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Participants were randomized to receive a placebo or a daily dose of ten capsules containing 10 grams of cod liver oil (which provided 2.2 grams of omega-3 essential fatty acids plus vitamins A, D, and E) for nine months. The subjects were evaluated for rheumatoid arthritis disease activity and safety at the beginning of the study and at the fourth, twelfth, twenty-fourth and thirty-sixth week. Continue Reading

Wonder drugs may treat many conditions

At the 2008 Congress of European Pharmacological Societies (EPHAR), held July 13-17, 2008 in Manchester, England, Professor Marc Feldmann of the Imperial College London predicted that drugs he helped develop to treat rheumatoid arthritis may prove to be effective for many more medical conditions, including atheriosclerosis.

The drugs, which block a cytokine known as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), include infliximab, etanercept and adalimumab, which have shown a dramatic protective effect in patients afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease. These agents have also shown to be of benefit for other autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, including Crohn's disease, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and ulcerative colitis. Additionally, they have shown promise in the treatment of acute alcoholic hepatitis, a potentially fatal condition.

Cytokines such as TNF-alpha are molecules released by immune cells to alert the immune system that the body is under attack and to initiate a response against the infection. "In autoimmune diseases, such as arthritis, we discovered that cytokines are over-produced causing the immune system to fight itself, resulting in inflammation and tissue destruction," Dr Feldmann explained. "We further found that by blocking just one cytokine – tumor necrosis factor alpha – we were able to block all the cytokines involved in the inflammation, with remarkable clinical results." Continue Reading