Omega-3 fish oils and supplements may help lupus patients
An HSI member named Barbara would like to avoid giving her daughter steroids.
Barbara writes: “My daughter has lupus. The doctor wants to give her steroids. I know you must have a better treatment.”
Lupus is a disease that misguides the immune system, prompting attacks on healthy tissues and organs. This chronic condition is conventionally treated with immune system suppressants, malaria medications and corticosteroids. In some cases these treatments decrease inflammation and address specific symptoms of lupus, but the side effects of the drugs can sometimes do more to complicate the condition than relieve it.
For many lupus patients there may be a safer way.
Omega-3 fish oils and supplements of copper have been shown to successfully address lupus symptoms in animal studies. And previous human studies have shown that lupus patients tend to have lower omega-3 levels compared to healthy people.
In a trial reported last year, researchers with the Northern Ireland Center for Food and Health (NICHE) at the University of Ulster recruited 52 lupus patients who were randomly divided into four treatment groups:
- Three grams of fish oil and three grams of copper daily
- Three grams of fish oil and a placebo copper
- A placebo fish oil and three grams of copper
- Placebo fish oil and placebo copper
After blood samples were taken and disease activity was measured at the outset of the study, and then at six, 12 and 24 weeks, researchers found a significant decline in the disease measurements for those taking fish oil compared to placebo. Copper had no significant beneficial effect. Fish oil had no apparent effect on inflammation, but skin rashes and neurological problems improved considerably.
In contrast to steroids and other drug therapies used to treat lupus, none of the subjects in the NICHE study reported any adverse side effects.
Sources:
“The Clinical Effect of Dietary Supplementation with Omega-3 Fish Oils and/or Copper in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus” Journal of Rheumatology, Vol. 31, No. 8, August 2004, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
