Marine Oils and Arthritis

NSAIDS are associated with adverse GI effects and COX-2 inhibitors have cardiovascular risk. Long-term oral supplementation with fish oil reduce e.g. joint pain in rheumatoid arthritis (R.A) patients, with reduced need for NSAIDS, in addition to being cardioprotective. The aim is to investigate if 4 month supplementation of 15 ml/day of whale blubber oil compared with cod liver oil reduce the intensity of joint pain in patients with R.A (primary outcome). Patients are assessed at inclusion and after study (4 months) during routine polyclinical visit. Patients are called for interview after 6 and 12 weeks. Secondary outcomes are e.g. morning stiffness, quality of life and functional level