Omega 3 Fish Oil Supplements - They should be on prescription

OMEGA 3 FISH OIL SUPPLEMENTS: THEY SHOULD BE ON PRESCRIPTION

For several years, it has become more apparent that the supplementation of Omega 3 fish oil to patients confers health benefits. In recent years, a number of benefits have been shown, including reduction of triglyceride cholesterol (50%), heart attack (50%), stroke (50%) and overall mortality (20%).

Other benefits/reductions are:

breast and bowel cancer growth and spread
Alzheimer’s disease/memory and cognition
child intelligence
Parkinson’s disease
multiple sclerosis
depression/suicidal behaviour
bipolar disease
immunity
allergy/hay fever/asthma
behaviour problems/anger/hostility/impulse control
psychosis/schizophrenia
hypertension
diabetes
cardiac arrhythmia/palpitations/atrial fibrillation
coronary heart disease/atherosclerosis/heart failure
stroke
osteoarthritis
autoimmune diseases, e.g. rheumatoid arthritis
skin diseases
cholesterol
macular degeneration.

Dietary imbalance

Our six-million-year-old caveman bodies no longer eat a staple of fish, plants and wild meats, so we don’t consume enough Omega 3. In addition, we eat more Omega 6 via margarine, processed foods, certain plant oils, etc.

The resulting skew in the Omega 3 to 6 ratio away from optimal causes an increase in production of pro-inflammatory messengers in the body. This causes many diseases.

Most of these diseases are due to inflammation, which is why studies have found that those taking aspirin have a lower incidence of colon cancer, while elderly people taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have reduced Alzheimer’s disease, etc.

Ideally, people would eat at least two to four fish meals per week, but there are many reasons why this does not happen.

Taking Omega 3 fish oil capsules

Taking four to eight Omega 3 fish oil capsules per day can help to:

reduce the drug bill
reduce all the diseases noted above
reduce hospital costs
reduce primary care costs
improve quality of life, enabling older people to live independently at home for longer
keep older people working longer, and participating in the community more.

As New Zealand’s population ages, enabling older people to stay healthier and more independent will give numerous benefits to the community and also limit medical costs.