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Fish oil and vitamin D are not helping treat osteoarthritis

STATES CHRONICLE – The positive effects fish oil and vitamin D can have on our health have been widely discussed, and it was believed that they can slow knee cartilage loss, reduce inflammation and have a generally positive effect on our bone structure.

However, a new study conducted by a team of Australian researchers suggests that vitamin D and fish oil have actually no impact on osteoarthritis. The problem is that this condition affects a lot of people, about 13 percent of women and 10 percent of men over 60 years old.

This is a chronic disease which cannot be simply cured. People need to have joint-replacement surgeries and take pain killers, but otherwise, there is nothing that can actually cure them. So far, it was believed that fish oil and vitamin D could help, but it turns out we were wrong.

In order to see whether or not vitamin D has any effect on the disease, the researcher split in half a group of 413 subjects and gave on group vitamin D and the other a placebo. The subjects took the treatment for two years. After that, researchers re-examined them, but found no difference between the two groups regarding knee degeneration.

This means that the vitamin has no kind of influence in treating osteoarthritis, and while it might be good for other things, it does not improve knee conditions in any way.

Another substance that we thought might work is fish oil. However, the same team of researchers conducted a previous study to discover if fish oil could be an effective treatment. It turned out that the people who had a low dose of fish oil showed some improvements compared to the ones who took higher doses of fish oil.

Now, despite vitamin D and fish oil do not work in treating knee osteoarthritis, making no difference in pain or knee function, they do however work on improving general bone health. This means that consumption of fish oil and vitamin D is recommended for people who don’t have yet any bone problems, so they can decrease their risk of developing any conditions.

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Scientists have uncovered another health benefit of omega-3 fish oil. According to a new study, this enriched oil may help protect against alcohol-related dementia.

The long-term use of alcohol increases the risk of dementia, scientists say.

Small amounts of alcohol are likely to make brain cells more fit. Alcohol in moderate amounts stresses cells and thus toughens them up to cope with major stresses down the road that could cause dementia. However, too much alcohol overwhelms the cells, leading to inflammation and cell death.

Study

Researchers at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine carried study on brain cells of rats exposed to high levels of alcohol.

An earlier analysis by Michael A Collins and colleague Edward J Neafsey, which pooled the results of 143 studies, found that moderate social drinking may reduce the risk of dementia and cognitive impairment. Notably, moderate drinking is defined as a maximum of two drinks per day for men and 1 drink per day for women.

Collins and colleagues exposed cultures of adult rat brain cells to amounts of alcohol equivalent to more than four times the legal limit for driving in the US. These cell cultures were compared with cultures of brain cells exposed to the same high levels of alcohol, plus a compound found in fish oil called omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

Findings

There was about 90 percent less neuroinflammation and neuronal death in the brain cells exposed to DHA and alcohol than in the cells exposed to alcohol alone.

“Fish oil has the potential of helping preserve brain integrity in abusers. At the very least, it wouldn’t hurt them,” Collins said.

Osteoarthritis Not Cured with Fish Oil

Omega-3 fish oil may cut alcohol-related dementia risk

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