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Pharmaceutical Grade Fish Oil for Arthritis

Jul 22, 2011 | By Ed Donner
Pharmaceutical Grade Fish Oil for Arthritis
Photo Credit Creatas Images/Creatas/Getty Images

The Arthritis Foundation reports that more than one fifth of all Americans have arthritis. And an estimated half of Americans who are older than 65 have it, according to the Centers of Disease Control. Fish oil can help tame the inflammatory pain that plagues those with arthritis. The dosages of fish oil required to ease arthritis are fairly high, however, so you might be better off using a pharmaceutical grade. You won't have to take as much of a pharmaceutical grade, and you will minimize your exposure to toxins. Consult with your physician before taking fish-oil supplements of any sort.

Causes of Arthritis-Related Joint Pain

More than 100 types of arthritis and associated diseases afflict almost half a million Americans. In osteoarthritis, the cartilage that covers and protects the joints deteriorates. Bone scrapes against bone. Rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the immune system misidentifies your own tissues as foreign invaders. The immune system attacks and destroys the synovial membrane that lubricates your joints. These and other arthritis-related conditions such as gout, tendinitis, bursitis and Reiter's syndrome involve an over-reactive immune system that floods affected areas with white blood cells, fluid and other substances that are supposed to protect your body but end up causing greater tissue damage and pain.

Inflammation and Fish Oil

Your diet probably provides only a fraction of the omega-3 fatty acids you need to have a healthy balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Western diets are much heavier in omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3s, according to the journal "Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapie." Omega-3 fatty acids promote anti-inflammatory responses from your immune system, reducing the amount of inflammation your body generates. Fish oil has two essential omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA, which reduce inflammatory responses and pain associated with arthritis, rheumatologist Leslie Cleland reported in a 2006 review article in "Arthritis Research & Therapy." Supplementation with fish oil can restore your fatty-acid balance and decrease inflammation.

Dosage

To obtain the anti-inflammatory effects of fish oil, you must consume the relatively high dose of 2.7 g or more of omega-3 fatty acids, according to Cleland.. Regular fish oil capsules usually have about 300 mg of DHA and EPA, so you have to take nine capsules to reach therapeutic levels of these essential omega-3 fatty acids. Most people take one or two capsules, enough to provide important cardiovascular benefits but well short of what is necessary to significantly reduce arthritic inflammation.

Phamaceutical-Grade Fish Oil

Certain types of fish meat and fish liver can carry toxins, such as PCBs and mercury, which can have an adverse accumulative effect on your health when consumed at high levels on a daily basis. Fish oil is far less vulnerable to tainting by toxins and heavy metals than fish flesh and cod liver oil, but impurities can remain. However, manufacturers of pharmaceutical-grade fish oil send the oil through complicated filtering and purification processes that reduce contamination and oxidation and boost the potency up to 600 mg of EPA and DHA per 1-g capsule.
Pharmaceutical-grade fish-oil pills cost more, but you can take four or five per day rather than nine because of their increased potency. Pills labeled as conforming to the International Fish Oil Standard meet high standards of purity. They have less than 45 ppb PCB's and 1 ppt of furan and dioxin. In addition, they have low rates of oxidation and must contain at least 60 percent omega-3 fatty acids.

References

Article reviewed by Amy Richards Last updated on: Jul 22, 2011

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