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Oily fish helps cut inflammation Researchers have discovered why a diet high in oily fish, like salmon and mackerel, may help improve inflammatory conditions such as arthritis. The researchers, from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, found a key anti-inflammatory fat in humans which is derived from a fatty acid found in fish oil. The new class of fats, called resolvins, controls inflammation by stopping the migration of inflammatory cells to sites of inflammation, and turning on other inflammatory cells. Resolvins are made from the Omega-3 fatty acids, found in high concentration in oily fish, and their production also appeared to be stimulated by taking aspirin. The study also revealed a potential pitfall of COX-2 inhibitors; drugs designed to block inflammation and have been shown to have negative cardiovascular side effects. The enzyme COX-2 is involved in making Resolvin E1, which is thought to play a particularly significant role in controlling inflammation, and researchers suspect that taking COX-2 inhibitors may disrupt the body’s ability to synthesize the fat, undermining one of the body’s most important methods for reducing inflammation. A spokesperson for the Arthritis Research Campaign said: “A number of studies have suggested that oily fish can help people with inflammatory arthritis, and this new study appears to confirm this. “Our charity has also funded a small preliminary study which shows that oily fish or fish oil capsules can also play a part in reducing ... continue > Next page
Published: 14 March 2005 Ref: BBC