According to a study, fish oil might not improve the symptoms of asthma – The Daily Siasat

WASHINGTON: The study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory Medicine and Critical Care, showed that four grams of fish oil a day for six months did not improve control of the drug. Asthma, measured by a standard asthma control questionnaire, respiratory tests, urgent care visits and severe asthma exacerbations.

"We do not know why controlling asthma in obese patients is harder, but it is becoming increasingly obvious that obesity causes systemic inflammation," said lead author Jason E. Lang, badociate professor at Duke University in the United States.

"Because omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil have anti-inflammatory properties, we wanted to check if fish oil would have therapeutic benefits for these patients," Lang added.

The team had close to 100 overweight and obese participants aged 12-25, and found that participants had poor asthma control despite daily use of inhaled corticosteroid to control their asthma.

Of three participants badigned to take fish oil for 25 weeks, one was badigned the placebo for soybean oil.

In addition, the team also examined whether a variant of the ALOX5 gene affected the results. It is known that mutations in the gene may reduce responses to anti-leukotriene drugs.

Leukotrienes are inflammatory molecules that play a critical role in triggering asthma attacks. In this study, the variant ALOX5 appeared to be related to leukotriene production but not to the effectiveness of fish oil in controlling asthma.

The researchers noted that the negative findings from the study may not be the last word on fish oil and asthma and acknowledged that higher doses of fish oil on a longer period could produce a different result.

However, according to the current study, "clinicians do not have enough evidence to suggest that uncontrolled asthmatic patients take daily fish oil supplements to relieve their asthma," said Lang.

New therapeutic interventions to reduce airway inflammation and improve asthma control are essential, suggested the team.

Source: IANS