A Fish Oil Supplement to Maintain Body Weight in Patients With Disease-Related Weight Loss

The overall goal of this project is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of nutritional supplementation with fish oils to maintain weight in patients with disease-related weight loss (cachexia). Weight loss commonly results in a poorer prognosis, functional status, and quality of life. Despite the high morbidity and mortality associated with cachexia, mainstream treatment does not sustain weight and although nutritional supplements are commonly used, many of these have not been tested in clinical trials. Recent work in cachexia has revealed that this is mediated by pro-inflammatory cytokines. There are data that suggests that fish oils can affect the underlying pathogenic inflammatory response and have an affect on weight maintenance and nutritional balance Diseases in which cachexia is most common: * Cancer * Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) * Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) * Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Goals of the Study: * To evaluate the safety and efficacy of fish oils vs. corn oil in the maintenance of weight and lean body mass in patients with disease-related weight loss. * To understand the mechanism of fish oil effect on health maintenance by evaluating the anti-inflammatory, anti-catabolic, anti-oxidant and anabolic actions of these compounds * To document the effect of our interventions on quality of life and functional status. Study Outline: Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either fish oil supplements or corn oil for the duration of this 3-month study. Participants will have five study visits and two telephone interviews. During each study visit, participants will undergo laboratory tests, a physical exam, and a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) bone scan. Participants will be asked to keep a food diary during the study. During the telephone interviews, participants will be asked health-related questions and discuss their current functional status.