SynthesisThe British journal of nutrition2012
A systematic review of omega-3 fatty acids and osteoporosis.
Synthesis in The British journal of nutrition, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
45 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 110 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- The Effects ofNutrients · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of vitamin D3, omega-3s, and a simple home exercise program on incident vertebral fractures: the DO-HEALTH randomized controlled trial.Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Omega-3 fatty acid therapy reduces triglycerides and interleukin-6 in hypertriglyeridemic HIV patients.HIV medicine · 2013Trial
- Musculoskeletal decay and bone-muscle crosstalk during physical disuse: Mechanisms and integrated countermeasures.Experimental physiology · 2026Review
- Knowledge of Dietary Supplements and Attitudes Towards Complementary Medicine Among University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Plasma fatty acid composition predicts bone mineral accrual from childhood to adolescence: the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children study.Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research · 2025Article
- Lipid metabolism in age-related musculoskeletal disorders: insights into sarcopenia and osteoporosis.BMC biology · 2025Review
- A distinctive human fatty acid metabolism profile associated with osteoporotic patients.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Relationship between dietary characteristics and heel quantitative ultrasound parameters in postmenopausal women from the OsteoLaus cohort.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Fat and fatty acids - a scoping review for Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023.Food & nutrition research · 2024Article
- Diversity of the diet is correlated with osteoporosis in post-menopausal women: an Iranian case-control study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Estimated Phytate Intake Is Associated with Bone Mineral Density in Mediterranean Postmenopausal Women.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Amount and composition of total fatty acids in red and yellow bone marrow are altered with changes in bone mineral density.EXCLI journal · 2023Article
- Bone loss induced by cancer treatments in breast and prostate cancer patients.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2022Article
- Bone Health in Patients with Dyslipidemias: An Underestimated Aspect.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Article
- Causal effect of polyunsaturated fatty acids on bone mineral density and fracture.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Some epidemiological evidence suggests that diets high in omega 3 fatty acids (n-3 FAs) may be beneficial for skeletal health. The aim of this systematic review was to determine if randomized controlled trials (RCTs) support a positive effect of n-3 FAs on osteoporosis. A systematic search was performed in PubMed and EMBASE databases. We included RCTs with skeletal outcomes conducted in adults or children (> = 1 year old) using n-3 FA fortified foods, diets or supplements alone or in combination with other vitamins/minerals, versus placebo. Primary outcomes were incident fracture at any site and bone mineral density (BMD) in g/cm2. Secondary outcomes included bone formation or resorption markers and bone turnover regulators. A total of 10 RCTs met inclusion criteria. Effect sizes with 95 % confidence intervals were estimated to compare studies across various treatments and outcome measures. No pooled analysis was completed due to heterogeneity of studies and small sample sizes. No RCTs included fracture as an outcome. Four studies reported significant favorable effects of n-3 FA on BMD or bone turnover markers. Of these, three delivered n-3 FA in combination with high calcium foods or supplements. Five studies reported no differences in outcomes between n-3 FA intervention and control groups; one study included insufficient data for effect size estimation. Strong conclusions regarding n-3 FAs and bone disease are limited due to the small number and modest sample sizes of RCTs, however, it appears that any potential benefit of n-3 FA on skeletal health may be enhanced by concurrent administration of calcium.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.