Disease Symptoms

Fish oil can reduce the symptoms of exercise-induced asthma below the threshold for diagnosing it and at the same time reduce the need for emergency medication according to the results of a study conducted by the University of Bloomington Indiana, USA.

The trial was a randomized double-blind crossover study involved 16 people with mild to moderate asthma who normally took medications daily for control. During the trial, participants received either fish oil or placebo for a period of three weeks. The dose of fish oil was very high in 3.2gr of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 2 grams of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

Both the beginning and end of the experiment, participants were tested for efficiency of the lungs and sputum was analyzed for its programs and inflammatory cell markers. The fish oils were shown an improvement in lung efficiency around 64% and reduced their need for emergency medication for about 31%. They also had lower levels of pro inflammatory cells and markers in their sputum. These promising results are believed to be due to anti-inflammatory effect of Omega 3 fatty acids present in fish oil.

What is exercise-induced asthma?

After exercise and sometimes even during exercise, the airways in people with exercise-induced asthma become inflamed and narrower resulting in decreased lung efficiency, often making it necessary to use inhalers. The constriction of the airways causes various symptoms such as coughing, chest tightness, wheezing and difficulty breathing. These symptoms usually begin to ease gradually over a period of half an hour or so after exercise.

Nobody really knows what causes it but is believed to be caused by the drying and cooling of the airways that leads to the release of inflammatory chemicals pro cells that in turn causes a narrowing of the airways. Consequently, exercise outdoors in a cool and dry is more likely to result in an asthma attack that physical activities such as swimming where the air is humid and warm.

A major problem with exercise-induced asthma is that it can be a barrier to the exercise of many people, especially youth, to be put out of sports and other physical exercise because of it. It is also on the increase and the reason for this is thought to be linked to an increased consumption of omega-6 fatty acids in the diet along with a reduction in the amount of Omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 6 is known to be pro-inflammatory, while omega-3 has anti-inflammatory properties and it is this difference in the proportion that is considered responsible for an increase in the number of health problems.

Omega 6 is found in processed foods, vegetable oils, meat and dairy products so there is a lot of them in our diet. The Omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA instead only found in oily fish or fish oil and plant source of Omega 3 does not contain EPA and DHA, which are in the form of alpha linolenic acid or ALA, but the problem with ALA is that our bodies can not be easily processed to produce EPA, fatty acid is best known for its anti-inflammatory effects.

You would have to eat a lot of fish to get the same amount of EPA present in fish oil, which is not a good idea because of potentially dangerous toxins such as mercury found in fish. For this reason, fish oil offers a safe and viable alternative. Another point worth considering is that the long-term use of medication for asthma may be less effective and of course, as with any medication may have undesirable side effects so if fish oil can reduce the need for drugs and inhalers in people with exercise-induced asthma, then that is good news indeed.