Fish Not a Proven Heart Protector: Study

But the presence of omega 3 fats confers a likely benefit, experts say

By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter

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FRIDAY, March 24 (HealthDay News) -- The belief that the omega 3 fats found in oily fish can help prevent heart disease is far from proven, a new British study contends.

U.S. experts agreed with that statement, but also stressed that people without heart disease will suffer no harm from consuming fish, and quite possibly could do themselves some good. And there's clear proof that omega 3 consumption helps people who already have had heart attacks or other cardiac problems, they added.

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The report, published in the March 25 British Medical Journal, summarized findings from 89 studies aimed at assessing the effects of omega 3 consumption from fish or supplements on total mortality, heart problems, strokes and cancer.

The picture is "mixed," concluded Lee Hooper, a lecturer in research synthesis and nutrition at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, and lead author of the report. Two major studies did show a benefit, but the most recent large study did not, she said.

One problem in interpreting the findings is that most of the trials included people who already had cardiac problems such as heart attacks or angina. Putting all the studies together produced conclusions that could be described as equivocal, Hooper said.

"If you put the results all together, for every 100 deaths in the control group (those who didn't get omega 3), you see 87 deaths in those who took supplements," she said. "But that could be as low as 74 and as high as 102; our best guess is 87."

What's needed to determine the true preventive benefits of omega 3 consumption are more and larger trials, Hooper said. "At the moment we just aren't sure, so we should be cautious," she said.

That is pretty much the conclusion reached by an expert panel assembled in June 2004 by the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

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