Eating Fish May Cut Down Asthma Risk By 70%, Could Help 334 Million Affected People Worldwide

Fish oil is known to be rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) or n-3 and contains omega fatty acids 3 and 6, which play a central role in the normal development and functioning of the brain and central nervous system.

The study found that ¡°certain types of n-3 (from marine oils) were significantly associated with a decreased risk of having asthma or asthma-like symptoms by up to 62 per cent, while high n-6 consumption (from vegetable oils) was associated with an increased risk by up to 67 per cent,¡± said Andreas Lopata, Professor from the James Cook University in Australia.

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Around 334 million people worldwide suffer from asthma, and about a quarter of a million people die from it every year.

¡°Even if you factor in contaminants, such as mercury found in some fish populations, the benefits of fish and seafood intake far more outweighs the potential risks,¡± Lopata said, in the paper published in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

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However, she stressed the need for further work to understand how the beneficial role of n-3 could be optimised and negative effects of n-6 be minimised.

For the study, the team included 642 people who worked in a fish processing factory in a village in South Africa.