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Fish Oil is Not Snake Oil
Reported January 22, 2010
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- When fish oil was given intravenously to
patients in intensive care, it improved gas exchange, reduced inflammatory
chemicals and resulted in a shorter length of hospital stay.
Philip Calder, of the University of Southampton, UK, and colleagues
investigated the effects of including fish oil in the normal nutrient
solution for patients with sepsis, and found a significant series of
benefits. They studied 23 patients with systemic inflammatory response
syndrome or sepsis in the Hospital Padre Américo, Portugal.
Calder was quoted as saying, "Recently there has been increased interest in
the fat and oil component of vein-delivered nutrition, with the realization
that it not only supplies energy and essential building blocks, but may also
provide bioactive fatty acids. Traditional solutions use soybean oil, which
does not contain the omega-3 fatty acids contained in fish oil that act to
reduce inflammatory responses. In fact, soybean oil is rich in omega-6 acids
that may actually promote inflammation in an excessive or unbalanced
supply."
Calder and his colleagues found that the 13 patients in the fish oil group
had lower levels of inflammatory agents in their blood, were able to achieve
better lung function and left hospital earlier than the ten patients who
received traditional nutrition.
According to Calder, "This is the first study of this particular fish oil
solution in septic patients in the ICU. The positive results are important
since they indicate that the use of such an emulsion in this group of
patients will improve clinical outcomes, in comparison with the standard
mix."
SOURCE: Critical Care, January, 2010 |
