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 The American Heart Association recommends eating at least two
servings of fish a week and considering supplements of omega-3 fatty
acids when that’s not possible. Previous research has linked
omega-3s to a lower risk of abnormal heartbeats, less fats in the
blood, reduced risk of artery-clogging deposits known as plaque, and
slightly lower blood pressure.
For the current study, researchers examined previously published
research on two omega-3s: EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic
acid). They found that consumption of omega-3s in food or
supplements was associated with a 16 percent lower risk of heart
disease in people with high triglycerides, or fats, in the blood,
and a 14 percent lower risk for patients with elevated low-density
lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the bad kind.
“The collective evidence from all studies supports a beneficial role
of EPA and DHA on coronary heart disease, and stronger associations
were observed among those who may benefit acutely from EPA and DHA,
such as those with elevated triglyceride levels and those with
elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol,” said lead study
author Dominik Alexander of EpidStat Institute, with offices in
Seattle, Washington, and Ann Arbor, Michigan.
To examine the connection between omega-3s and heart disease,
researchers analyzed data from 18 trials that randomly assigned
about 93,000 people to get a certain amount of these nutrients.
Across these randomized trials, they found omega-3s associated with
a 6 percent lower risk of heart disease, but this was too small to
rule out the possibility it was due to chance.
The study also reviewed results from another 17 previously published
trials that observed about 732,000 people over long periods of time
while they followed their usual diets. Over all of these studies,
omega-3s were tied to a statistically meaningful 18 percent
reduction in the risk of heart disease.
The study was funded by the Global Organization for EPA and DHA
Omega-3s (GOED), an advocacy group with manufacturers and sellers of
omega-3 dietary supplements among its members. Several study authors
have also served as consultants to manufacturers of omega-3
supplements.
Limitations of the study include the wide variation in study designs
for the randomized trials, which included patients with a range of
eating habits and heart disease risk factors and tested omega-3s
over different time periods, the authors note in Mayo Clinic
Proceedings.
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Some studies in the current analysis also didn’t track heart health
or the amount of omega-3s in people’s diets at the start, making it
harder to determine how much these nutrients might directly
influence heart disease risk over time, the authors also point out.
Even so, the results from an analysis of data on close to one
million patients suggest many people may benefit from boosting the
amount of omega-3s they get from eating fish or taking supplements,
said Dr. Chip Lavie, of the Ochsner Clinical School-University of
Queensland School of Medicine in Australia.
Very few people in the U.S. or other countries who follow a typical
Western meat-and-potatoes diet eat enough fish, so they might need
to take dietary supplements to achieve close to 1,000 milligrams a
day of EPA and DHA, Lavie, senior author of an accompanying
editorial, said by email.
“Omega-3 fats are very important for health and well being,
especially for the heart,” Dr. James O'Keefe, lead author of the
editorial, said by email.
“Try to eat 2 or 3 servings of naturally oily fish like salmon,
sardines, and trout each week,” advised O’Keefe, director of
preventive cardiology at the Mid America Heart Institute at Saint
Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. “If you can't or won't do
this, consider taking a daily omega 3 supplement containing about
1,000 milligrams of EPA and DHA.”
SOURCE: http://mayocl.in/1LEaZY3 Mayo Clinic Proceedings, online
January 3, 2017.
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