News
Omega-3 helps severely injured miner
05.11.2007
An article in the Charleston Daily Mail newspaper quotes Julian Bailes, neurosurgery chairman at West Virginia University, as saying that a daily intake of 15 g of DHA and EPA may have helped Randal McCloy to recover sooner from his injuries than he otherwise might have done. McCloy (28) was the only survivor of a coal mine explosion in January 2006.
McCloy had suffered a heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, liver failure and dehydration when he was brought out of the mine. There was almost no brain activity. He was hospitalised at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh where Dr. Bailes began administering a daily dose of fish oil through a feeding tube. The idea was to rebuild McCloy’s brain as if he were in foetal development.
Dr. Bailes said: “I certainly do not want to say it was the biggest thing, but in terms of what we did medically, I think it had a great impact.”
McCloy was eventually able to return home where he continues to take fish oil daily.