On Saturday, June 1 at the American College of Sports Medicine’s 60th Annual Meeting and 4th World Congress, Prof. Timothy Mickleborough, from the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington, presented and discussed his breakthrough findings from an Indiana University study which discovered that an omega-3 supplement derived from the New Zealand green-lipped mussel significantly improves lung function and reduces airway inflammation in asthmatics.

As if there were not already enough good reasons for you to be taking an omega-3 supplement (benefits have been linked with reduced heart disease, improved energy levels and better brain function), an Indiana University study on a unique type of fish oil has just discovered something new about omega-3 supplements. According to a news release from Indiana University, the discovery yielded, “A 59 percent improvement in lung function after an airway challenge, and a reduction in airway inflammation, asthma symptoms and use of emergency medication.”

The study is being led by Prof. Timothy Mickleborough from the IU School of Public Health in Bloomington, Indiana, who got right to the point when he summarized the far-reaching benefits of his findings by saying, “Any time you can reduce medication is good.”

The type of fish oil being used in Mickleborough’s study contains PCSO-524, a patented extract of stabilized lipids from the New Zealand green-lipped mussel, combined with olive oil and vitamin E. PCSO-524 includes the five main lipid classes: sterol esters, sterols, polar lipids, triglycerides and free fatty acids, including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

Previous studies involving PCSO-524 have already found it to be effective in helping osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. However, Mickleborough’s study is the first to show that PCSO-524 is effective in reducing the airway inflammation experienced by asthmatic study participants diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma.

Mickleborough’s research was conducted as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial (the gold standard for reliable test results). He plans to conduct further studies to look at the impact of PCSO-524 on delayed onset muscle soreness and delayed onset muscle damage.

For a copy of Mickleborough’s research on PCSO-524, email your request to newsroom@elsevier.com.

Sources:
http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/24265.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23660397