Study from Italy shows Fish oils give hope to patients with Crohn's disease

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Fish o. ils give hope to patients with Crohn's disease

 

BOLOGNA, ITALY. Crohn's disease is characterized by periods of active

disease interspersed with periods of remission. Now researchers at the

University of Bologna report that fish oils prevent relapses. Their

experiment involved 78 patients with Crohn's disease who had been

classified as having a high risk of relapse. half the patients were

randomized to receive nine fish oil capsules daily, the other half

received nine placebo capsules daily.

 

The fish oil capsules contained

500 mg of a marine lipid concentrate each (40 per cent eicosapentaenoic

acid and 20 per cent docosahexaenoic acid) and provided a total of 2.7

grams of n-3 fatty acids per day. The capsules were enteric-coated so a

to ensure that they dissolved in the small intestine instead of in the

stomach and to minimize unpleasant side effect such as flatulence,

heartburn, belching, and diarrhea.

 

The results of the fish oil therapy

were spectacular. While 69 per cent of the patients in the control group

had a relapse during the one-year study period, only 28 per cent in the

therapy group did. At the end of the one-year period 59 per cent of the

patients in the fish oil group were still in remission as compared to

only 26 per cent in the placebo group.

 

The researchers conclude that

fish oil therapy (with enteric-coated capsules) is effective in

preventing relapses in patients with Crohn's disease in remission.

(NOTE: This study was supported in part by Tillotts Pharma of

Switzerland, the manufacturer of the enteric-coated fish oil capsules).

Billuzzi, Andrea, et al. Effect of an enteric-coated fish-oil

preparation on relapses in Crohn's disease. The New England Journal of

Medicine, Vol. 334, No. 24, June 13, 1996, pp. 1557-60