London, Jan 19 (Inditop.com) Fish oil fed intravenously to patients in Intensive Care Units (ICUs), improves gas exchange, reduces inflammatory chemicals and cuts down hospital stay.
A randomised controlled trial, which examined the effects of including fish oil in the normal nutrient solution for sepsis patients, found a significant series of benefits. (Sepsis is the presence of pus-forming bacteria or toxins in the blood or tissues).
Philip Calder, University of Southampton, worked with a team of researchers to carry out the study in patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome or sepsis in the Hospital Padre Americo, Portugal.
“Recently there has been increased interest in the fat and oil component of vein-delivered nutrition, with the realisation that it not only supplies energy and essential building blocks, but may also provide bioactive fatty acids,” said Calder.
“Traditional solutions use soybean oil, which does not contain the omega-3 fatty acids contained in fish oil that act to reduce inflammatory responses.”
“In fact, soybean oil is rich in omega-6 acids that may actually promote inflammation in an excessive or unbalanced supply,” cautioned Calder, according to a Southampton release.
Calder and his colleagues found that nearly half the patients in the fish oil group had lower levels of inflammatory agents, were able to achieve better lung function and left hospital earlier than patients who received traditional nutrition.
These findings were published online in BioMed Central’s Critical Care.
