Fish Oil May Prevent Heart Disease Deaths

Several Studies Find Fatty Acids Beneficial

New studies support the benefit of eating fish as a way to avoid heart disease.

One study, published in Wednesday's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that women who ate fish two to four times weekly cut their risk of heart disease by 30 percent. Women who ate fish five or more times weekly reduced their risk by 34 percent.

The study, which included almost 85,000 women, linked the heart benefits to omega-three fatty acids in fish. It was conducted by resesearchers at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The authors wrote that "compared with women who seldom ate fish, women with a higher fish consumption were slightly older, had a lower prevalence of current smoking and had a higher prevalence of being overweight and of [high blood pressure], vigorous activity, regular aspirin use, and multivitamin use."

They also said that women who ate fish were also likely to eat chicken, fruits, vegetables, and dairy foods, but less likely to eat red meat.

Populations with high rates of fish consumption, such as Alaskan Natives, Greenland Eskimos and Japanese people who reside in fishing villages, have low rates of cardiovascular disease, according to the article.

A similar heart benefit was found in men in another Harvard-affiliated researcher's study. This report is in the New England Journal of Medicine.

And a report in the journal Circulation found a reduction in sudden cardiac death among heart attack patients who took fish oil supplements.

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Previous research found that eating oily fish such as tuna and salmon can reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death caused by a particular type of irregular heartbeat. This study suggests fish-oil supplements, rather than dietary fish oil, could be a therapy without side effects for heart patients.

The fish oil works by reducing the number of instances of potentially fatal irregular heartbeats, called arrhythmias, the Italian researchers said.

About 250,000 people in the United States die each year from coronary heart disease without reaching the hospital alive. Most of these deaths are probably due to sudden death caused by an arrhythmia.

"This study is important because there is no really effective therapy for arrhythmias," said Dr. Alexander Leaf, a professor of clinical medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, who wrote an accompanying editorial about the new findings.

The American Heart Association does not recommend fish oil supplements in capsule form, and will not recommend then until there is compelling evidence that they benefit overall cardiovascular health.

Instead, the association recommends consuming two servings of fish twice a week. Fish are a good source of protein without the high saturated fat found in fatty meat products.

Previous Stories:

• April 8, 2002: Fatty Acid Battles Postpartum Depression
• March 13, 2002: Eat Fish To Reel In Health Benefits
• February 28, 2002: Get Your Daily Dose Of Fish Oil
• January 21, 2002: Think Before Feeding Children Fish
• October 9, 2001: Fish-Oil Ice Cream: Low In Fat, Good For Heart?

Additional Resources:

• Journal of the American Medical Association
• New England Journal of Medicine
• American Heart Association

Copyright 2002 by Channel4000.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.