Habitual fish oil supplementation lowers risk for mortality, CV events
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Adults who regularly took a fish oil supplement experienced lower risk for all-cause and CVD mortality as well as a moderate reduction in CV events, especially in those with hypertension, according to findings published in The BMJ.
Among 133,438 participants (mean age, 56 years; 55% women; 92% white) who habitually took fish oil supplements, researchers observed a 13% lower risk for all-cause mortality (adjusted HR = 0.87; 95% CI, 0.83-0.9), a 16% lower risk for CVD mortality (aHR = 0.84; 95% CI, 0.78-0.91) and a 7% lower risk for CV events among the general population (aHR = 0.93; 95% CI, 0.9-0.96).
In addition, the protective effects of fish oil on CV events was stronger in participants with hypertension (P for interaction = .005).
“Fish oil is a rich source of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, a group of polyunsaturated fats that primarily include eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid,” Zhi-Hao Li, PhD, of the department of epidemiology in the School of Public Health at Southern Medical University, Guangdong, China, and colleagues wrote. “Initially, these compounds were recommended for daily omega-3 fatty acid supplementation for the prevention of CVD. Consequently, the use of fish oil supplements is widespread in the United Kingdom and other developed countries.”
According to a subgroup analysis, the protective effects of habitual fish oil supplementation on all-cause mortality were stronger in men (P for interaction = .01) and current smokers (P for interaction = .009).
For this population-based, prospective cohort study, researchers used data from the UK Biobank of patients aged 40 to 69 years with no CVD or cancer at baseline to analyze the effect of regular fish oil supplementation on all-cause mortality, CVD mortality and CV events.
“These findings indicate that habitual fish oil supplementation could have a marginal benefit for CVD outcomes, but further studies are needed to examine how the dose of fish oil supplements affects its clinically meaningful effectiveness,” the researchers wrote. – by Scott Buzby
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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