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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Dietary supplements of fish oil may
be helpful to people with lupus. Copper supplements, however, make
no difference, according to results of a new study.
Fish oil and copper have shown beneficial effects in rat studies
of lupus, Dr. Aubrey L. Bell, of Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast,
Northern Ireland, and colleagues explain in the Journal of Rheumatology
To investigate any clinical effects of fish oils and/or copper,
the researchers studied 52 lupus patients. The participants were
randomly assigned to take various combinations of fish oil capsules
and extra copper -- both, one or the other, or none -- for 24 weeks.
Those given fish oil supplements took three capsules a day of
MaxEPA -- "roughly equivalent to two oily fish-based meals
per week."
The researchers measured disease activity using a scale called
the revised Systemic Lupus Activity Measure (SLAM-R).
Compared to patients given inactive placebo capsules, those taking
fish oil experienced a significant decline in SLAM-R score from
6.12 to 4.69 points at the end of the trial, Bell and colleagues
report.
"Supplementation with copper showed a rise in SLAM-R score
of less than 1 unit after 12 weeks," which wasn't statistically
significant and reverted to normal by the end of the study.
All patients who received an active supplement reported feeling
better than those who were given a placebo, the team found.
SOURCE: Journal of Rheumatology, August 2004.
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