Fish Oil Can Prevent Airway Constriction in Asthma
(NY, Reuters Health News, 1/9/06)

Dr. Timothy D. Mickleborough of Indiana University in Bloomington, and team, tested lung function and sputum inflammatory markers in 16 asthma patients with exercise induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) before and after exercise. The investigators randomly assigned the subjects to a normal diet supplemented with either 20 capsules of fish oil per day or a placebo for three weeks. Then, the researchers waited two weeks in which the patients took neither supplements nor placebos before switching them to the other regimen. The scientists found that participants developed EIB while on the normal and placebo-supplemented diets, but when the subjects took fish oil, the airway constriction was significantly reduced and the sputum contained fewer inflammation markers. These findings suggest that fish oil may be beneficial to patients with EIB.

(Chest January 2006)