Do you ever feel frustrated that there can seem to be so much conflicting information about what kind of natural supplements can help MS, and what really doesn't help? I was going to write this article about the benefits of fish oil for MS, something I myself have taken for years and my neurologist has long recommended as being beneficial. Much to my surprise when I went to read a little more and do some research I found article after article telling me that fish oil "does do any good" for MS patients, "won't help," and "disappoints as MS therapy. " After years of being told the opposite, what is a person to think? In this article I will tell you a little more about both sides of this important issue and my personal conclusions as a MS patient myself.
Most of these conclusions are based on a study done recently in Begen, Norway, headed up by Dr. Oivind Torkildsen, from Haukeland University Hospital. The report was published in the April 16, 2012 online edition of the Archives of Neurology. In this two-year study, 92 patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis were followed and chosen to receive either fish oil or placebo pills. To make a long story short, the consensus was that fish oil had no measurable beneficial effect on MS progression, disease activity, or quality of life for the participants, and thus according to Torkildsen, "We have declined advising patients to take omega-3 supplements. "
So does this mean as MS patients that we should just flush our fish oil down the toilet then and consider it just a waste of money and time? I don't think so! This was one study done with 92 patients. This isn't the first time fish oil's impact on MS has been studied, and not all of the studies have come to the same conclusions. There have been numerous studies done previously that have shown that fish oil does indeed make a difference, especially combined with a low-fat diet, and can have a significant impact on improving function, decreasing disability, and decreasing relapse rates of MS. It is well known that the polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially DHA, found in fish oil help to decrease the inflammation associated with other autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, lupus erythematosus, psoriasis, and also depression, and patients participate in those studies showed decreased disease activity and lowered use of anti-inflammatory drugs. It stands to reason that there is enough similarity between those diseases and MS for some benefit to be gleaned from the use of fish oil.
For me, I feel that fish oil's benefits for conditions that are very common with MS like depression, alone makes it worth taking, not to mention all of the other proven benefits it has on a person's overall health status. MS is such a complex disease and there is so much still that is not yet even understood about it. I view fish oil holistically as part of a piece of the puzzle that can help to improve the quality of my life, along with a healthy diet, exercise, less stress, etc., and not as a "magic bullet" that is going to cure my MS, slow down the progression of it, or stop disease activity. If others with MS can see it in this light also, I don't think the results of this one study necessitate us to throw the baby out with the bathwater so to speak, and I think fish oil still can and should play an important role in helping us to strengthen our bodies in every way we can and have a better quality of life while having to live with the challenges that MS presents us with.