Fish Oil Could Make Huge Impact on Cardiac Death Rate

NEW YORKA computer-simulated model of sudden cardiac death showed increased fish oil intake by Americans could reduce the rate of cardiac death by 6.4 percent, which scientists estimated could be a greater reduction than by cardiac defibrillators. The study was published in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (31, 4:316-23, 2006; DOI:10.1016/j.amepre.2006.06.006).

In the study, Thomas Kottke, M.D., and his team from the Heart Center at Regions Hospital in St Paul, Minnesota, used a computer-simulated community of 100,000 Americans and data from past medical studies; they calculated that raising omega-3 levels would save 58 lives each year by preventing fatal heart rhythm disturbances. Researchers further estimated that cardiac defibrillators, which shock a fatally arrhythmic heart back into normal rhythm, would save fewer lives per year than would increased fish oil consumption. In fact, they reported that even if automated external defibrillators (AEDs) were available in every home and public area, the devices would lower a communitys annual death rate by less than 1 percent; internal defibrillators would only reduce cardiac death by 3.3 percent.

While the studys significance is tempered by its computer-simulation method, the researchers based their estimates of fish oil benefits on two large studies showing reduced risk of fatal arrhythmias in at-risk people; its not yet clear if omega-3 fatty acids prevent sudden cardiac death in apparently healthy people.