Rheumatoid Arthritis

“There is some encouraging evidence from a number of laboratory studies, animal studies, and clinical trials about the potential usefulness of fish oil or omega-3 supplementation for various aspects of RA--such as the number of tender joints, morning stiffness, and the need for NSAIDs.” 
-National Institutes of Health, NCCAM

--> High dose (>2.5 grams daily) Omega-3 supplementation, such as that found in OMAPURE™, has been shown repeatedly in clinical trials to produce anti-inflammatory benefits... 

The clinical research for rheumatoid arthritis includes 13 double-blind, placebo-controlled studies¹ showing results such as an improvement in patient’s overall assessment of pain, a reduction in tender joint count, a reduction in morning stiffness, and so on.

Below are some of the conclusions from several of the studies:

Non-randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study²:

“The results of the present study confirm and expand upon our original finding that dietary fish oil ingestion produces clinical benefits in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis.”  

Randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study³:

“Our study shows significant improvement of clinical disease variables in patients with rheumatoid arthritis during dietary fish oil supplementation.”  

 Randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study⁴:

“We conclude that the clinical benefits of dietary supplementation with Omega-3 fatty acids are more commonly observed in patients consuming higher dosages of fish oils for time intervals that are longer than those previously studied.”  

Randomized, 12 month, double-blind, placebo controlled study⁵:

“Findings of this double-blind study of the effect of fish oil supplementation in patients with active RA confirm the positive results obtained in previous short-term studies and extend these observations to the long-term follow-up of 1 year of treatment.”   

Randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study⁶:

“We have demonstrated that patients with active rheumatoid arthritis who consume high-dose fish oil supplements exhibit improvements over baseline in multiple clinical parameters.”  

Meta-analysis study⁷:

“The meta-analysis demonstrated that dietary fish oil supplementation for 3 months significantly reduced tender joint count and morning stiffness as compared with heterogeneous dietary control oils.”  

--> OMAPURE™'s formulation mirrors the formulation used in a very successful RA clinical trial... 

OMAPURE™’s formulation closely mirrors a randomized double-blind placebo controlled study published in the highly regarded peer reviewed medical journal, Arthritis & Rheumatism.⁵  OMAPURE™ contains the same amount of EPA (the main anti-inflammatory ingredient in Omega-3) used in this very successful clinical trial.  

Below are some of the positive results from the clinical trial:

-- > Patients reported a significant drop in disease severity:

A negative % change from baseline means that the patient reported a drop in severity of disease activity.

The high dose (as found in OMAPURE™) demonstrated superior effect compared to the low dose (as found in most Omega-3 brands) and placebo.  Also noteworthy is that patients who stuck with the high dose Omega-3 therapy for 12 months were able to realize an additional 50% improvement above and beyond the superior results they already obtained by the third month.

-- > Patients and physicians noticed measurable improvement in pain:

-- > About 50% of patients reported a reduction in NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and DMARDs (disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs):

NSAIDs side effects can be severe and include morbidity and mortality.  It is no small feat that about half of the patients were able to reduce their use of NSAIDs and DMARDs by using a natural supplement.   The results from this particular clinical trial are not atypical.  Please read about several other clinical studies demonstrating high dose Omega-3’s ability to reduce or eliminate NSAID use.

OMAPURE™’s formulation of 1.7 grams of EPA and 2.6 grams of Omega-3 closely mirrors the same treatment given the patients in the above double-blind placebo controlled trial.   As highlighted above, these patients showed a noticeable improvement in overall global assessment, a reduction in pain, and the potential to decrease dangerous NSAID use – all without significant side effects.

References:

1. Haywood L, McWilliams DF, Pearson CI, Gill SE, Ganesan A, Wilson D, et al: Inflammation and angiogenesis in osteoarthritis.  Arthritis Rheum.   2003; 48:2173-2177.   Abstract
2. Simopoluous, AP:Omega-3 fatty acids in inflammation and autoimmune diseases.  J. Am Coll Nutr  2002 Dec;21(6):495-505  Abstract
3. Arita M, Bianchini F, Aliberti J, Sher A, Chiang N, Hong S, et al: Stereochemical assignment, antiinflammatory properties, and receptor for the omega-3 lipid mediator resolvin E1.  J Exp Med 2005 Mar 7; 201(5):713-722.  Abstract
4. Curtis CL, Hughes CE, Flannery CR, Little CB, Harwood JL, Caterson B: n-3 fatty acids specifically modulate catabolic factors involved in articular cartilage degradation.  J Biol Chem 2000 Jan 14: 275(2):721-4,  Abstract
5. Cleland L, James M, Proudman S : Fish oil : what the prescriber needs to know. Arthritis Res Ther 2005 Dec 21; 8(1):202. Full Article
6. Kremer JM, Lawrence DA, Petrillo GF, Litts LL, Mullaly PM, Rynes RI, et al: Effects of high-dose fish oil on rheumatoid arthritis after stopping nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs.   Arthritis Rheum 1995 Aug;38(8):1107-14.  Abstract