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BLOG: Omega-3 fatty acid & DED part 1 — Fish oil makes patients with DED better
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Lots and lots of crazy good news in and around the dry eye world lately. I’ll be weighing in with some thoughts and suggestions about how to start off with Xiidra later this month, and I can’t wait to talk about Oculeve/Truetear (for example, I can tell you that the control Rx was not a punch in the nose). That’s all for later on, but for now, let’s talk fish oil.
One of the truly amazing things that has occurred in the last several years in the anterior segment world is that there are now a slew of meaningful studies with actionable results being published by authors not named Mike Lemp. Don’t get me wrong, Dr. Lemp is still doing great stuff; it’s just that now some incredibly talented people have joined him. The most recent example is Alice Epitropoulos and the study she led on the effect of re-esterified omega-3 fatty acid on a plethora of DED variables.
Yes, you read that right: “plethora” in a dry eye blog.
In the September 2016 issue of Cornea, Alice and her co-authors have published a study in which they examined the effect of re-esterified omega-3 fatty acid from marine source (fish oil) on tear osmolarity, MMP-9 activity, tear breakup time (TBUT), corneal staining, Schirmer and symptoms as measured by OSDI. They also measured a value called the “omega-3 index,” which you don’t care about. Yet. Over the course of 12 weeks, there was a substantial improvement in osmolarity, MMP-9 positivity, TBUT and OSDI, all statistically significant when compared with control.
Let me say that again because this is really important: The ingestion of fish oil in the study formulation (think AREDS) resulted in a dramatic and statistically significant improvement in tear osmolarity, TBUT, MMP-9 activity and DED symptoms. Don’t take my word for it, though. Read the article here and see for yourself. No matter what else you do when you begin to treat someone for DED, I think this study now makes it mandatory that you include omega-3 fatty acid supplementation with fish oil as part of the foundation of your treatment plan.
There’s more to come in parts 2 and 3. For now, a tip of the cap to Alice and her co-authors for a study that instantly launches a new paradigm.
Disclosure: White reports he is a consultant for Bausch + Lomb, Allergan, Shire and Eyemaginations; is on the speakers board for Bausch + Lomb, Allergan and Shire; and has a financial interest in TearScience.