Omega-3 and the incidence of arrhythmias and fatal heart attack
Researchers in Netherlands studied high-risk patients with a previous myocardial infarction and diabetes.
First, the details.
- 1,014 adult patients with diabetes and a history of having a heart attack were randomly assigned to receive 1 of 4 margarines for 41 months.
- The margarines contained different combinations of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).
- ALA
- EPA-DHA
- EPA-DHA + ALA
- Placebo
- The groups did not differ significantly, regarding use of blood thinner and blood pressure medications, lipid-lowering drugs, and antidiabetic drugs.
And, the results.
- The patients consumed on average 19 grams of margarine per day.
- 29 patients developed a ventricular arrhythmia, 2 died suddenly, 1 had a nonfatal cardiac arrest, 11 had a fatal cardiac arrest, and 15 had a cardioverter defibrillator implanted.
- Eating the omega-3 margarine resulted in an additional intake of 223 mg EPA plus 149 mg DHA and/or 2 grams ALA.
- After adjusting for age, gender, and current smoking, consumption of omega-3 fatty acids significantly reduced ventricular arrhythmia: 1% vs 6% for placebo — a significant difference.
- The omega-3 fatty acids also helped reduce other cardiovascular events.
- Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation did not make a significant difference for fatal heart attack.
The bottom line?
The authors concluded, “Low-dose supplementation of omega-3 fatty acids exerts a protective effect against ventricular arrhythmia–related events in post-heart attack patients with diabetes.”
It’s important to remember that these patients all had a history of myocardial infarction. Therefore, it isn’t known if the results apply to people who never had a heart attack.
Also, although more than a thousand patients started the study, only a small number had an arrhythmia, heart attack or related event. And the findings are based on this small sample.
12/23/11 20:32 JR