Monday, March 31, 2008

Diet rich in omega-3 can help eczema

The Daily Telegraph reported that omega-3 can help eczema - German researchers recruited 53 patients suffering from atopic eczema aged 18–40 into a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial and gave them daily tablets of either omega-3 supplements or placebos for 8 weeks.

Clinical outcome was assessed by a standard scale known as the SCORAD (severity scoring of atopic dermatitis) index. The researchers found that those on supplements resulted in a significant clinical improvement of atopic eczema in terms of a decreased SCORAD and concluded that the "data suggest that dietary DHA could be bioactive and might have a beneficial impact on the outcome of atopic eczema, but our results need to be confirmed in a larger study".

Source: "Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation in atopic eczema: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial" - British Journal of Dermatology 158(4):786-792, April 2008

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