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Cachexia Treatment: How Fish Oil Can Reduce Symptoms
If you don't know what 'cachexia' is, you're fortunate.
People with cancer and other chronic diseases often experience cachexia; a general loss of vitality characterised by poor appetite, weight loss, decomposition of muscle and depression. These symptoms also compromise the immune system and make the body susceptible to other illnesses.
A new study conducted in the UK shows that one important supplement could eventually become a standard of cancer care in addressing cachexia.
Quality of life
Researchers at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh created a study to examine the effects of omega-3 fatty acid supplements on weight, lean body mass, dietary intake, and general quality of life in advanced pancreatic cancer patients with symptoms of cachexia.
200 patients were divided into two groups; 95 received a daily high-calorie/high-protein supplement, enriched with vitamins C and E, and about 2 grams of omega-3 fatty acids, and 105 received a similar supplement that didn't include the additional vitamins or fatty acids.
At the beginning of the study, subjects were losing an average of approximately 7 pounds per month. But over the 8-week period of the study, subjects in both groups stopped losing weight. When researchers conducted a specific analysis of dose-response relationships, they found that the omega-3 group showed significantly higher rate of weight gain, as well as increased lean body mass compared to the other group. Furthermore, weight gain was associated with improved quality of life only in the omega-3 group.
Exactly how the enriched supplement created greater benefits over the other supplement isn't known. Nor is it clear that this sort of supplement might have the same effect on patients suffering from cachexia due to other types of cancers or diseases. Nevertheless, the Edinburgh team concluded that supplements enriched with omega-3 fatty acids from fish oils apparently have positive effects on cachexia symptoms; especially those of weight loss and diminished quality of life.
Fish vs. fish oil
By now, the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids are familiar to most HSI members. For example, in the past I've told you about two studies that demonstrate how omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil can significantly improve cardiovascular health and cut your risk of heart attack in half. And two other studies have revealed how omega-3 supplements may reduce depression.
Although dietary sources like walnuts and flaxseed deliver good amounts of omega-3, only fish contain both eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docohexaenoic acid (DHA). When combined, these two fatty acids have been shown to help prevent Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, influenza, hyperactivity, and even some forms of cancer, in addition to the benefits mentioned above. The highest concentration of omega-3 fatty acids is found in oily fish such as tuna, swordfish and salmon. For many years, osteopathic physician Dr. Joseph Mercola has recommended fish oil and cod liver oil as the best sources of omega-3 EPA/DHA.
Hopefully neither you nor your loved ones will ever need to be concerned with the disabilities associated with cachexia. But as we read more and more studies about the wide-ranging benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, it's clear that this remarkable nutrient provides excellent preventive and therapeutic qualities for cancer patients as well as those who are healthy.
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