NEW YORK -- A nutrient-rich diet loaded with antioxidant vitamins and fish oil may help people with a potentially fatal lung disorder breathe better, according to a report.
In critically ill patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, the
diet "reduced inflammation in the lungs and, just as important, had no apparent
side effects," researcher Dr. James Gadek, of the Ohio State University Medical
Center in Columbus, reported in a university press release.
Gadek and colleagues studied 98 intensive care patients with acute
respiratory distress syndrome who had to be fed through tubes. They found that
patients on the experimental diet formula spent about 5 fewer days on a
respirator and about 5 fewer days in the intensive care unit than those who
received a standard liquid diet.
The special diet formula contained beta-carotene and vitamins A and C,
which are antioxidants that help protect healthy cells from free radicals, the
destructive byproducts of normal body processes. It also contained two fatty
acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (fish oil) and gamma-linolenic acid (oil from the
borage plant).
The diet may work by opposing the efforts of the body's immune system, the
researchers suggest in the November issue of the journal Critical Care Medicine.
During acute respiratory distress syndrome -- which often occurs as a
complication of other lung diseases, including pneumonia -- the lungs fill up
with fluid, making breathing difficult.
When the body tries to protect itself from lung injury, white blood cells
called neutrophils, which are produced in response to inflammation, may
accumulate in the lungs.
"As a result, the patient gets a massive accumulation of white blood cells
in the lungs and the neutrophils start killing lung cells," Gadek explained in
the press release. Fatty acids prevent the body from producing too many
neutrophils.
Often, other organs besides the lungs are damaged as a result of acute
respiratory distress syndrome, Gadek's team notes. However, just 8% of the study
patients who received the nutrient-dense diet developed new organ failure,
compared with 28% of the comparison patients.
"Nutrition support is increasingly becoming a routine part of ICU
(intensive care unit) therapy," Gadek and his colleagues write in the journal.
They recommend the liquid diet as a useful additional therapy for patients with
acute respiratory distress syndrome and for those at risk of developing it.
