Women who took fish oil during the last three months of pregnancy significantly lowered the risk that their children would develop asthma, a study in Denmark has found.
Among children whose mothers took fish-oil capsules, 16.9 percent had asthma by age three, compared with 23.7 percent whose mothers were given placebos. The difference, nearly 7 percentage points, translates to a risk reduction of about 31 percent.
But in the study released on Dec. 28 last year, the researchers say they are not ready to recommend that pregnant women routinely take fish oil.
Photo: AP
照片：美聯社
Before doctors can make any recommendations, the study should be replicated, and fish oil should be tested earlier in pregnancy and at different doses.
Doctors are eager to find ways to prevent asthma, a chronic disease that causes wheezing, coughing and breathing trouble, and that sends many families to the emergency room again and again.
The incidence has more than doubled in developed countries in recent decades.
Previous research had suggested that fish oil might help prevent asthma. The idea is plausible, because inflammation in the airways and lungs plays a major role in asthma, and fatty acids in fish oil are thought to prevent inflammation. The richest sources in food include fish like herring, sardines, mackerel, eel and salmon.
■ This article is an edited version of a piece that originally appeared in the New York Times
(New York Times / Denise Grady)
一項丹麥的研究發現，婦女在懷孕後期三個月攝取魚油可顯著降低孩童未來罹患氣喘之風險。
母親懷孕時服用魚油膠囊的孩童有百分之十六點九在三歲前罹患氣喘；而對照組母親懷孕時服用安慰劑的孩童，罹患氣喘的機率則為百分之二十三點七。其近七個百分點的差異，可換算出服用魚油將使罹患氣喘之風險減少約百分之三十一。
但在這份去年十二月二十八日發表的報告中，研究人員說他們尚不會建議懷孕婦女定期攝取魚油。
在醫師做出任何建議之前，研究應再經多次實驗驗證，並且應就懷孕較早期和不同劑量的變數再做測試。
醫師亟欲找出預防氣喘之道。氣喘是一種會造成喘鳴、咳嗽和呼吸困難的慢性疾病，並造成許多家庭不斷出入急診室。
在近幾十年中氣喘在已開發國家的發病率已增加了一倍以上。
先前已有研究顯示魚油可能有助於預防氣喘，這看來是很合理的，因為氣管及肺部的發炎是造成氣喘的主要原因，而魚油中的脂肪酸則可預防發炎。最富含魚油的攝取來源包括鯡魚、沙丁、鯖魚、鰻魚、鮭魚等魚類。
■ 本文為編輯後的版本，原文已於紐約時報刊登。
（台北時報編譯林俐凱譯）
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