There's Something Fishy About This...

Many patients who are diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) find themselves on a serious, and intensive medication regimen..and while these are definitely effective, it's good to know that sometimes there are alternative choices. If effective, alternative remedies can save a patient from side effects and drug interactions and can be cost saving as well.

Fish oil capsules

Here is one example of an alternative treatment that can be effective. Fish oil has been studied in patients with existing RA back in the 1990s and found to be minimally effective. But in the past year, an Australian study, published in Annals of Rheumatic Medicine. The study compared the use of high dose fish oil , low dose fish oil, and standard treatment regimens in patients who had RA for less than one year. Those patients who were on the high dose fish oil regimen were less likely to progress to more advanced forms of treatment, and seemed to score better on remission assessments than those taking low dose fish oil or other forms of RA treatment.

Based on the conclusion of this study, it might be appropriate to treat new cases of RA with fish oil after all. Who knew? You can read a Medscape article about this study by clicking here.

Sources: Medscape; Wikimedia

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Everyday pain management ideas

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