FISH OIL CUTS HEART FAILURE DEATH RATE

Taking a simple daily capsule of fish oil improves survival prospects for patients with heart failure, results of a major clinical study have showed.

The positive finding boosts the health-giving reputation of fish oil and is particularly encouraging because heart failure – a chronic condition in which the heart struggles to pump blood effectively – is notoriously difficult to treat.

Fish oil is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids.

Omega-3 fatty acids have in the past been linked to a range of health benefits, including reducing the risk of heart attacks, strokes, Alzheimer's disease and depression.

Patients on the 1g daily dose of fish oil were followed up for an average 3.9 years, and were 9% less likely to die than those given a placebo, or dummy capsule.

They were also less likely to be admitted to hospital with cardiovascular problems.

Of the 7,000 people tracked in the study, 955 patients in the fish oil group died, compared with 1,014 in the placebo group.

That difference may be modest but Jose Ramon Gonzalez Juanatey, a cardiologist at Santiago University Hospital in Spain, who was not involved in the test, said it was clinically meaningful, since the patients were already receiving the best available treatment, leaving little room for improvement.

"This is important because heart failure is a major public health problem. Even in well-treated patients, the mortality rate is 10% a year, so new therapies and strategies are needed," he said.

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Super Healthy Tip…

This is more good news for those who supplement their diet with fish oils, equivalent oil supplements or eat cold water fish regularly. But at the same time it is a case of how the drug companies are quickly snapping up the natural supplement industry since this research was conducted by one of the big pharma companies. They are good at getting positive media exposure when you do consider that the improvement was a modest 9%. If I saw such a small change in the objective outcome measures when I am looking after someone, I would be asking where we went wrong, and what else needed to be done to produce bigger positive change? And if I was to approach the media and tell them about the consistent 30% changes that I see in my practice, I know that I would have trouble getting media coverage. I guess I don’t spend as much on advertising as the drug companies?