Diabetic neuropathy is a difficult complication of diabetes. It is the leading cause of feet wounds and amputations that do not occur as a result of injuries and the impact of diabetic neuropathy on patients and their families is devastating,” said Mark Yoreki from the medical center for veterans in Iowa City, who led the research.
Fish oil may help in one of the most common complications of diabetes – diabetic neuropathy that is a nerve damage that affects about 50 percent of patients with diabetes and a new research shows that metabolite resolvin, that comes as a result from metabolizing of omega 3 fatty acids in the body, can not only stop the disease progression in mice but also improves the situation.
For this complication there is no remedy and the most effective treatment is to keep a blood sugar level low which only slows down the development of the disease. New research shows that there is an alternative – the omega 3 fatty acids, found in fish oil and which have restored the damaged nerves in mice with diabetes.
Diabetic neuropathy is a difficult complication of diabetes. It is the leading cause of feet wounds and amputations that do not occur as a result of injuries and the impact of diabetic neuropathy on patients and their families is devastating,” said Mark Yoreki from the medical center for veterans in Iowa City, who led the research.
Fish oil is considered to be an attractive method of treatment as it is thought to be a very safe product and can be easily used on a daily basis. “Fish oil is simply consumed as taking vitamins and should have few side effects in combination with other drugs,” says Yoreki.
Earlier studies on obesity and diabetes have shown that taking omega-3 fatty acids contributes to better blood sugar levels, better liver function and alleviated symptoms of liver inflammation. These beneficial effects are due to the protective molecules that are produced by omega-3 fatty acids including those called resolvin.
Scientists have already found that a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil improves the diabetic neuropathy in rats and in the new study they have attempted to find out why.
Part of the mice were fed with the omega-3 fatty acids and found that they, unlike the control group which didn’t consume omega 3 and in which the nerve damage didn’t change, had improved symptoms that is sensory neural pathways were boosted. Scientists have noticed that resolvin stimulates the growth of nerve cells.
“Our research in animals suggests that fish oil can reverse some of the harmful effects of diabetes on the nerves,” says Yoreki.
