Rheumatoid Arthritis

Dietary fish oil supplementation and rheumatoid arthritis:

Results of a meta-analysis showed that after 3 months, dietary fish oil supplementation was associated with a statistically significant modest improvement in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). There was a reduction noted in tender joint count and morning stiffness in patients with RA. Ten randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trials were included in the meta-analysis which concluded that fish oil is beneficial for RA. (2)

Omega-3 fish oil, joint stiffness and joint tenderness:

Improvements in morning stiffness and joint tenderness with the regular intake of fish oil was reported in a study of 66 patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) or inflammation of the joints and surrounding tissues. After discontinuing diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug at a dose of 75 mg oral twice daily, researchers administered fish oil at a high dose (130 mg/kg/day) to one group of patients and corn oil (9 capsules/day) to the other group for 8 weeks after stopping their regular medications. Patients on fish oil showed significant improvement in their arthritis measured by the reduction in number of tender joints (-5.3) and duration of morning stiffness (-67.7 minutes). (3)