Attention Rheumatoid Arthritis Sufferers

By: Michael Byrd

Omega 3 fish oil is a very effective rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pain reliever. In fact, it may be the best since it doesn't have any serious side effects.

The most commonly prescribed pain relievers for RA are NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). But they're not safe. NSAIDs, such as Advil, Aleve, Motrin and Nuprin, according to the New England Journal of Medicine (1999; 340 (24): 1888-99), cause severe gastrointestinal complications that are responsible for a hundred thousand hospitalizations and over sixteen thousand deaths annually. And that's just in the U.S.

And there's more. NSAIDs are now being connected to heart disease complications. Before it was taken off the market, Vioxx, for example, was linked to thousands of heart attack deaths.

And since, according to researchers at the Mayo Clinic, rheumatoid arthritis patients already have double the risk of heart failure and sudden cardiac death, they certainly don't need to increase their risk any more by taking NSAIDs for pain relief.

But there's good news for arthritis patients. Omega 3 fish oil offers both effective pain relief and protection against heart disease.

In numerous studies, fish oil has been shown to be so effective at significantly reducing the number of painful joints and severity of morning stiffness of arthritis sufferers that many patients were able to reduce or totally eliminate the use of NSAIDs.

For example, in one recent long term fish oil study, reported in the Journal of Rheumatology (October 2006), seventy five percent of participants who took fish oil supplements were able to stop taking NSAIDs for pain relief. But what makes this particular study important is the fact the fish oil participants were also able to lower their total triglyceride levels, raise their HDL cholesterol levels and significantly improve their total cholesterol/HDL ratios.

"Anti-inflammatory doses of fish oil," as far as the researchers were concerned, "should be considered in patients with RA as a means of reducing CV risk."

In another study, a review of 75 human clinical trials of fish oil, published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Practice (18: 28-36), Dr. Robert Oh, the lead researcher, concluded that "Fish saves lives, and physicians must recognize this potential life-saving treatment choice in patients with cardiovascular disease and rheumatoid arthritis."

Dr. Oh believes all doctors should get their patients to follow the guidelines of the American Heart Association which recommend that everyone eat fatty fish at least two or three times a week or take fish oil supplements that provide 650 to 1,000 mgs a day of omega 3 fatty acids DHA (docosahenaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid).

And don’t be alarmed about toxins in fish. According to Drs. Dariush Moxaffarian and Erik Rimm of the Harvard University School of Public Health, health benefits of fish are 300 to 500 times greater than any threat of mercury toxicity. Their research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (2006 Vol. 296: 1885-99), demonstrated that despite the negative press mercury toxicity in fish was nothing more than "background noise."

If you want to take good care of both your heart and your joints, eating fatty fish on a regular basis is the best thing you can do. For even better arthritis pain relief and heart disease prevention, eat fish and take a good quality omega 3 fish oil supplement on a daily basis. That way you can be sure you're getting what you need to feel your best.

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Article Source: http://appliedhealtharticles.com

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