Fish oil helps fight bedsores
A diet rich in fish oils has been found to have a positive effect on bedsores, researchers from Tel Aviv University reported in the British Journal of Nutrition and the American Journal of Critical Care.
The authors explained that fish oils, which are full of antioxidants and Omega-3 fatty acids, can help reduce blood pressure, improve immune system function, lower joint and skin inflammation, as well as promote good fetal development. In this study, the researchers had set out to determine what benefits, if any, fish oils might have for pressure ulcers (bedsores).
After sitting or lying down for long periods, critically ill patients are at risk of developing bedsores on the skin and underlying tissue.
Professor Pierre Singer of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Mirian Theilla at the Rabin Medical Center, designed a randomized trial to find out what the impact of dietary fish oil supplements might be on critically ill patients’ bedsores.
The patients had eight grams of fish oil added to their daily diet. Within three weeks, Prof. Singer and team found that: Patients’ symptoms of pain and discomfort from bedsores improved by 20% to 25%; there was significantly less inflammation throughout the patients’ bodies; their immune systems improved
Bedsores form because of a lack of oxygen, skin wetness and reduced blood flow. The team had been inspired from a prior study which demonstrated that dietary fish oil supplements for bedridden patients increased levels of oxygen in body tissues. They wondered whether this increase in oxygen levels might help improve the symptoms of bedsores.
They recruited 40 critically ill patients to take part in the randomized study that they created themselves. Twenty of the participants received standard hospital food, while the other 20 ate the same, with eight grams of fish oil added each day.
As mentioned earlier, significant improvements in bedsore symptoms were detected within three weeks in the fish oil group, compared to those on just the standard hospital diet.