健康生活:每天服用魚油可緩解關節疼痛

Millions take a fish oil supplement every day to ease aching joints, but until now scientists could not find hard evidence to prove it had any real benefits.

據英國《每日郵報》11月17日報道，數百萬人每天通過服用魚油補充劑來緩解關節疼痛，但目前爲止，科學家還沒有發現確鑿的證據能夠證明這樣做對身體有任何真正的好處。

A two-year study has shown that even taking a low dose can reduce the pain and inflammation caused by osteoarthritis.

一項爲期兩年的研究表明，即使只是服用小劑量的魚油，也能夠緩解骨關節炎引起的疼痛和炎症。

An estimated eight million people in Britain have some degree of osteoarthritis, caused by wear and tear on joints, such as the hips, knees and wrists, where the cartilage that cushions bone movement has broken down.

據估計，在英國大約有800萬人患有某種程度的骨關節炎，通常是由關節磨損和撕裂引起的，比如說臀部、膝蓋和腕部關節緩衝骨頭運動的軟骨受到損傷。

Bones then come into contact, and the friction makes joints swollen and extremely painful.

軟骨受損後，骨頭就會直接接觸，摩擦使得關節腫脹，非常疼痛。

There is no cure and many sufferers rely on anti-inflammatory painkillers, although these can damage the stomach when used long-term.

關節炎目前無法治癒，許多患者都依賴於消炎止痛藥，儘管長期服用這些藥物會對胃部造成損害。

Researchers, from several universities and hospitals in Australia and Tasmania, have now shown that not only does fish oil ease the symptoms of osteoarthritis, but low doses may actually be more effective than large ones.

來自澳大利亞及塔斯馬尼亞州幾所大學和醫院的研究已經表明，魚油不僅僅能夠緩解骨關節炎的症狀，此外，低劑量的魚油攝入事實上比大劑量服用更加有效。

They studied 200 patients with an average age of 60 and discovered that those on a low dose had double the reduction in knee pain of patients on higher doses. They also saw significantly greater improvements in their mobility.

他們研究了平均年齡爲60歲的200名患者，發現在減少膝蓋疼痛的效果上，那些少量服用魚油的病患是大量服用的病患的兩倍。他們還發現在機動能力方面前者也比後者有更大的改善。

In a report on their findings the researchers said that "high doses were not superior to low doses" but they were still unsure why.

研究人員在一份報告中指出“高劑量並不優於低劑量”，但他們還無法確定這是爲什麼。