07.01.12
Nutraceutical: Omega 3s
Indication: Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Source: Archives of Neurology, April 2012: doi:10.1001/archneurol.2012.283
Research: Ninety-two people with MS were randomly assigned to take fish oil supplements or fish oil-free placebo pills daily. The fish oil supplements contained the omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. Study participants took only their assigned pills for 6 months, then continued on the supplements while also getting treated with the injectable MS drug interferon beta 1-a for another year and a half.
Results: Researchers found that after both rounds of treatment, patients assigned to take fish oil weren’t any better off than those on the placebo. By two years from the start of the study, just under half of patients in both groups had had a disease relapse, with new or worsening neurological symptoms. Based on changes in brain scans taken regularly during the study, MS progressed in 13 patients taking fish oil and 12 on the placebo pills over those two years.
Indication: Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Source: Archives of Neurology, April 2012: doi:10.1001/archneurol.2012.283
Research: Ninety-two people with MS were randomly assigned to take fish oil supplements or fish oil-free placebo pills daily. The fish oil supplements contained the omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. Study participants took only their assigned pills for 6 months, then continued on the supplements while also getting treated with the injectable MS drug interferon beta 1-a for another year and a half.
Results: Researchers found that after both rounds of treatment, patients assigned to take fish oil weren’t any better off than those on the placebo. By two years from the start of the study, just under half of patients in both groups had had a disease relapse, with new or worsening neurological symptoms. Based on changes in brain scans taken regularly during the study, MS progressed in 13 patients taking fish oil and 12 on the placebo pills over those two years.