Cod Liver Oil Capsules: Therapeutic Benefits & Scientific Basis

[Hanfonius]

I have been constantly advised to take cod liver oil capsules to relieve rheumatic and arthritic joint pains. Is this a proven theraputic fact, and/or does it have any scientific basis?

I know people who swear by them, but having used them daily for the past six months, I feel just the same - no improvement.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

In this pilot study, 43 patients with rheumatoid arthritis ingested 1 g of cod liver oil (one capsule) daily for 3 months. Decreases occurred in morning stiffness (52.4%; P<10(-3)), painful (42.7%) and swollen (40%) joints (P= 10(-3) each), and pain intensity (67.5%). Ratings of "good" or "very good" were awarded by 68% of the patients for efficacy and by 95% for tolerability. Eleven patients reported nonsevere adverse effects that in 3 cases may have been related to the study preparation. Cod liver oil can be recommended for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12069368

Patients recorded on visual analogue scales their daily pain and the extent to which arthritis interfered with everyday activities. There was no significant benefit for the patients taking cod liver oil compared with those taking placebo.

http://ard.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/51/1/128

Abstract Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLs) are an important contributor to inflammation and are thus a part of the pathophysiology of many human diseases. We assessed the effect of fish oil on PMNL inflammatory potential by measuring chemiluminescence and Superoxide production before and after six weeks of daily cod liver oil ingestion by healthy volunteers. Phagocytosing PMNLs demonstrated a 27% decrease in chemiluminescence (P < 0.05) and a 64% decrease in Superoxide production (P < 0.01), following the cod liver oil supplementation. Analysis of PMNL and platelet fatty acids revealed the appearance of eicosapentaenoic acid and a significant decrease in arachidonic acid in both types of cells.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/r212411856jn8v56/

Arthritis is a common disease in which the end-point results in joint replacement surgery. This article reviews the use of nutraceuticals as alternative treatments for pathological manifestations of arthritic disease. The efficacy of fish oils (e.g. cod liver oil) in the diet has been demonstrated in several clinical trials, animal feeding experiments and in vitro models that mimic cartilage destruction in arthritic disease. In addition, there is some evidence for beneficial effects of other nutraceuticals, such as green tea, herbal extracts, chondroitin sulphate and glucosamine. However, in most cases, there is little scientific evidence at the cellular and molecular levels to explain their mechanisms of action.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T64-4BMJ0DG-V&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=dba36edcba94da1e6862ae3c9208f055

 

[Hanfonius]

Thankyou, Ivan, for your response to my question.

Er..., I'm not really clever enough to be able to understand the responses, but I think that they are saying 'Yes' and 'No'. ?

Perhaps I should question my own doctor a little more. When I mentioned that I have been taking them for some months, he raised his eyebrow in a James Bond manner, gave a little grunt, and did not offer to elaborate.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Thankyou, Ivan, for your response to my question.

Er..., I'm not really clever enough to be able to understand the responses, but I think that they are saying 'Yes' and 'No'. ?

Perhaps I should question my own doctor a little more. When I mentioned that I have been taking them for some months, he raised his eyebrow in a James Bond manner, gave a little grunt, and did not offer to elaborate.

I couldn't get a good read on this, but it appeared that the more recent studies suggest that there is a connection. Most also seemed to agree that we don't understand the mechanism.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

How much do you take Hanfonius? I take 10g a day of fish oil.

 

[Proton Soup]

dangit. copied from the other thread:

wrt cod liver oil, I've experienced significant reductions in inflammation while using dosing as described in this paper.

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/art...medid=16542466

so i was taking 1 tablespoon of Twinlabs non-emulsified cod liver oil, per day. fwiw, there is some controversy over whether some sources of omega-3 fatty acids are superior to others. that is, some are in triglyceride form, processed oils are in ester form, and krill oil is in a phospholipid form. krill also have those chemicals that give salmon its pink/orange color, and some benefits are being claimed for those as well.

if you want to experiment on yourself, tho, make sure you're not on blood thinning medications. there can be side effects.

 

[Hanfonius]

How much do you take Hanfonius? I take 10g a day of fish oil.

I take one 400mg Cod Live Oil capsule each morning.

Additionally, following up from the next post by Proton Soup, I also take one 81mg Aspirin because I have been told that it could help to prevent heart attacks and strokes (I'm a pensioner). I have never experienced either. Hmmm, doesn't that count as a blood thinner?

In today's newspaper, I have read that statins camouflage blood tests for prostrate cancer. I have a very marginal cholesterol high reading, but again, I've been told that this drug can put off Alseimer's.

I'm getting a bit neurotic about these 'minor' drugs.
... I wonder if there's a pill I can take to stop me worrying about them?

 

[Proton Soup]

I take one 400mg Cod Live Oil capsule each morning.

Additionally, following up from the next post by Proton Soup, I also take one 81mg Aspirin because I have been told that it could help to prevent heart attacks and strokes (I'm a pensioner). I have never experienced either. Hmmm, doesn't that count as a blood thinner?

In today's newspaper, I have read that statins camouflage blood tests for prostrate cancer. I have a very marginal cholesterol high reading, but again, I've been told that this drug can put off Alseimer's.

I'm getting a bit neurotic about these 'minor' drugs.
... I wonder if there's a pill I can take to stop me worrying about them?

which drug can put off alzheimer's?

400mg of fish oil is nothing, really. and I'm not sure about the magnitude of a baby aspirin versus 14 or 15g of fish oil. might want to ask the doc about that, i was thinking more along the line of heparin or coumarin as a blood thinner. in any case, i think they do ask you to go off fish oil before going in for surgery.

but in general, the DHA in fish oil is an essential nutrient, so even if you don't take large doses in an attempt to lower inflammation, the amount you're taking now is nothing to worry about.

 

[Hanfonius]

Thanks again, Proton.

I have always considered myself to be immortal, and so far, so good.

My doctor did confirm that there is evidence that statins can delay the onset of Alzheimers, and although neither of us are worried about my cholesterol levels (now just under 5), it wouldn't do any harm to continue with them.

I believe that I read somewhere that the National Health Service in the UK would like to prescribe statins to all patients over the age of 60 (or 65).

 

[Proton Soup]

hmm, don't know that much about statins, except that my mother quit taking Lipitor because of muscle pain. not everyone reacts the same, though. fwiw, her HDL is actually pretty high, so I'm not sure why the doc put her on that.

 

[Evo]

Bottom line: No solid research has ever shown that cod liver oil prevents cancer, Alzheimer’s, or depression, but there is some evidence that fish oil, including cod liver oil, can ease the pain of arthritis and improve joint stiffness. But fish oil supplements can pose dangers. They can increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke, and people taking anticoagulants should not take them.

Cod liver oil, bottled or in capsule form, has its own special problems. It is the richest source of vitamins A and D. Just one teaspoon of cod liver oil has 4,500 IU of A, for instance, and the standard dose is one to three teaspoons a day. Capsules of cod liver oil contain less oil, but the vitamin can still add up, especially on top of the amount you get from foods and from a multivitamin, if you take one. Recent studies have found that as little as 6,000 IU of vitamin A daily can interfere with bone growth and promote fractures. And women of childbearing age should not exceed 10,000 IU of vitamin A because of the risk of birth defects. Cod liver oil is made from livers, of course. The liver is a filter, so toxins (such as PCBs) get concentrated there. Thus cod liver oil is more likely to be contaminated than other fish-oil supplements.

If you want to try fish oil supplements, avoid cod liver oil—and talk to your doctor first.

http://www.wellnessletter.com/html/ds/dsCodLiverOil.php

 

[Hanfonius]

Thankyou, Evo, for an excellent summarising for this topic.

Thankyou, also, to the other contributors for your contributions.

 

[Moonbear]

I think Evo's post touches on the issue that popped into my mind reading the "yes and no" answers above. It might depend on the cause of the arthritis in the first place. Perhaps some people experience rheumatoid arthritic symptoms due to an underlying nutrient deficiency messing with their immune functions, and they can benefit from the supplement (I'm just hand waving here) while others have other causes for their disease that don't benefit.

It sounds like there are some "risk" factors you need to be aware of, and avoid it if you have those, but otherwise, can try it and see if it works...if it does, great, if not, oh well, no worse than if you hadn't tried. But maybe someone should look into supplementing the vitamins in fish oil and see if it's really that the vitamins are doing the heavy lifting there, not something special about the type of oil.

 

[Proton Soup]

if you're worried about the vitamin A, then just use an oil without it. one option is to avoid oil from the liver altogether and use a fish body oil. another option is that some cod liver oil products are refined, the vitamin A removed, and sometimes replaced with beta carotene, a water soluble version of A that will not accumulate.

or, you could just eat a lot of oily fish, like salmon or sardines. if you're a non-piscavore vegetarian, you could take DHA tablets from algae. not cheap, but fish-friendly.