FISH OILS: They're just as good as statins at reducing heart disease

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[wddty.co.uk]

 

FISH OILS: They're just as good as statins at reducing heart disease

 

Fish oil supplements may not prevent a fatal heart attack, but they will

dramatically reduce your chances of developing heart problems, a new

Japanese study has found.

And they were just as effective as statin drugs, and offered a similar

level of protection.

 

The study ? the Japan EPA Lipid Intervention Study (JELIS) ? is

interesting on several counts.  It exclusively involves Japanese

people, whose fish intake is on average far higher than that in the

West, and the researchers were testing at far higher levels of

supplementation than have ever before been monitored.

 

They found that those who ate around two servings a week of fish were

getting all the protection they needed against fatal heart attack.  In

fact, taking extra supplementation on top didn?t offer up any more

benefits.

 

But those who were also supplementing with 900 mg of EPA and DHA daily

reduced their chances of developing non-fatal heart problems by around

19 per cent.

 

The study, which involved 18,645 participants with high cholesterol

levels who were randomly given either a supplement or a statin, is the

first to confirm that high dosages have a protective effect against

heart disease.  Earlier studies from the West were unable to find any

benefit because they were testing at far lower levels.

 

(Source: Lancet, 2007; 369: 1090-