Fish Eaters Find Less Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain

By Gia Miller

Eating fish at least twice a week may significantly reduce the pain and swelling associated with rheumatoid arthritis, a new study says.

Prior studies have shown a beneficial effect of fish oil supplements on rheumatoid arthritis symptoms, but less is known about the value of eating fish containing omega-3, the researchers said.

"We wanted to investigate whether eating fish as a whole food would have a similar kind of effect as the omega 3 fatty acid supplements," said the study author, Dr. Sara Tedeschi, an associate physician of rheumatology, immunology and allergy at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Generally, the amount of omega 3 fatty acids in fish is lower than the doses that were given in the trials, she said.