MONTREAL — It was once a ritual hated by children — nasty-tasting cod liver oil forced down by the spoonful to prevent rickets. But fish oil has a new star: omega-3.
A discovery about fatty acids by a Harvard researcher, neurobiochemist Przemyslaw (Mike) Sapieha, now of the Universite de Montreal's Maisonneuve Rosemont Hospital Research Centre, may soon bring hope to millions at risk of vision loss and blindness.
Diets enriched with omega-3 fatty acids are linked to health benefits including lower inflammation, heart disease and reduced risk of death from heart attack.
Sapieha's study shows that ingesting omega-3 can also stunt the profusion of wild blood vessel growth in the eye that leads to damage including a shearing of the retina. Overactive blood vessels affect the vision of premature babies, the elderly and people with diabetes; it's considered the leading cause of eye disease and blindness in the industrialized world.
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