Millions take a fish oil supplement every day to ease aching joints¹, but until now scientists could not find hard evidence to prove it had any real benefits。

A two-year study has shown that even taking a low dose can reduce the pain and inflammation caused by osteoarthritis。

An estimated eight million people in Britain have some degree of osteoarthritis, caused by wear and tear on joints, such as the hips², knees and wrists, where the cartilage that cushions bone movement has broken down。

Bones then come into contact, and the friction³ makes joints swollen⁴ and extremely painful。

There is no cure and many sufferers rely on anti-inflammatory painkillers⁵, although these can damage the stomach when used long-term。

Researchers, from several universities and hospitals in Australia and Tasmania, have now shown that not only does fish oil ease the symptoms of osteoarthritis, but low doses may actually be more effective than large ones。

They studied 200 patients with an average age of 60 and discovered that those on a low dose had double the reduction in knee pain of patients on higher doses. They also saw significantly greater improvements in their mobility⁶。

In a report on their findings the researchers said that "high doses were not superior to low doses" but they were still unsure why。

据英国《每日邮报》11月17日报道，数百万人每天通过服用鱼油补充剂来缓解关节疼痛，但目前为止，科学家还没有发现确凿的证据能够证明这样做对身体有任何真正的好处。

一项为期两年的研究表明，即使只是服用小剂量的鱼油，也能够缓解骨关节炎引起的疼痛和炎症。

据估计，在英国大约有800万人患有某种程度的骨关节炎，通常是由关节磨损和撕裂引起的，比如说臀部、膝盖和腕部关节缓冲骨头运动的软骨受到损伤。

软骨受损后，骨头就会直接接触，摩擦使得关节肿胀，非常疼痛。

关节炎目前无法治愈，许多患者都依赖于消炎止痛药，尽管长期服用这些药物会对胃部造成损害。

来自澳大利亚及塔斯马尼亚州几所大学和医院的研究已经表明，鱼油不仅仅能够缓解骨关节炎的症状，此外，低剂量的鱼油摄入事实上比大剂量服用更加有效。

他们研究了平均年龄为60岁的200名患者，发现在减少膝盖疼痛的效果上，那些少量服用鱼油的病患是大量服用的病患的两倍。他们还发现在机动能力方面前者也比后者有更大的改善。

研究人员在一份报告中指出“高剂量并不优于低剂量”，但他们还无法确定这是为什么。