A study with prospective coronary bypass patients showed a 54 percent reduction in the occurrence of atrial fibrillation as well as shorter hospital stays in those treated with n-3 LC-PUFAs compared with controls. Another study on fish oil in elderly people demonstrated that the oil, and by implication the n-3 LC-PUFAs it contains, can significantly improve heart rate variability.
Previously documented benefits to growth and development in premature infants receiving supplementary LC-PUFAs were also confirmed by recent research. Other data show that liquid cod liver oil, a concentrated source of n-3 LC-PUFAs, may be an especially useful dietary supplement from early pregnancy on, especially for women at increased risk of having a low birthweight infant.
Another link in the epidemiological chain connecting n-3 LC-PUFAs with healthy vision later in life is also discussed in this e-newsletter. A study involving more than 71,000 nurses for over 16 years showed that high total fat intake increased risk of cataract extraction. Increased intake of n-3 LC- PUFAs, however, resulted in 12 percent lower risk.
"A critical function of n-3 LC-PUFAs throughout life is the development and maintenance of visual function," Nettleton notes. "From prenatal visual development through retinal cell signaling to protection against various degenerative eye diseases, n-3 LC-PUFAs are active."
Finally, the e-newsletter describes an inverse association between advanced prostate cancer and n-3 LC-PUFAs, suggesting that these fatty acids may retard disease progress.