Eating more fish could help reduce pain, other symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis

Credit: Phil Walter

Credit: Phil Walter

Eating more fish could help reduce the pain and swelling of rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, according to a new study in Arthritis Care & Research.

Scientists studied the diets of 176 people and looked at the relationship between fish consumption and disease symptoms.

They found those eating two servings of fish per week had a lower incidence of aches and pains associated with RA compared to those who never ate fish. Each additional serving helped reduce symptoms even more, the study found.

“Our findings suggest that higher intake of fish may be associated with lower disease activity in RA patients,” researchers said.

"With that type of improvement, we would generally expect that a patient would feel noticeably better," lead study author Dr. Sara Tedeschi, an associate physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital, told Time.

Tedeschi cautioned that the study was just an observational measurement, one that did not prove or disprove the impact of fish on RA symptoms, the New York Times reported, but she also said the conclusions are "clinically significant" because of the major reductions in RA symptoms the fish eaters experienced.

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