Can fish oil-derived medication prevent diabetes complications?

Regular doses of a licensed medication derived from fish oil could be used to improve nerve damage and prevent the onset of some of the serious complications of diabetes such as amputation, blindness or heart disease.

New research from the University of Southampton and funded by Diabetes UK aims to determine if this is the case.

Keith McCormick, a podiatrist at the University of Southampton, will study 100 people with insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to determine whether taking high-doses of purified n-3 long chain fatty acids (a medication derived from fish oil found in Norwegian sardines named OMACOR) can improve the function of nerves and small blood vessels in feet. People with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are at increased risk of contracting type 2 diabetes.

The data will also be used to improve our knowledge of the link between nerve function and blood vessel damage in diabetes.

McCormick comments, ''OMACOR has already proved to be extremely successful in the treatment of high triglycerides (a type of fat) in the blood, but if this trial is successful it will provide evidence that treatment with these purified long chain fatty acids can also serve to improve small nerve and blood vessel function that is very relevant to people with diabetes. It is hoped this knowledge could then help to improve the lives of people with diabetes who are at risk of nerve and blood vessel damage.''

Diabetics are susceptible to develop serious health complications, such as blindness, kidney disease and amputation, as a result of neuropathy where the nerves and small blood vessels become damaged. Sensory neuropathy is the most common form and mainly affects the nerves in the feet and legs. The loss of sensation in these limbs can make people with diabetes vulnerable to foot wounds and these complications can develop even before diabetes is diagnosed.