Originally published July 21 2005
Omega-3 may promote health in regular patients, irregular heartbeat in defibrillator patients
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
While the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids are being touted throughout the medical community, research by Oregon Health and Science University scientists revealed that they may also cause irregular heartbeat in defibrillator patients, but The Epoch Times reports that concerned patients are at no increased risk of death and should discus concerns with their doctor.
Omega-3 fatty acids, found in abundance in fish oil, have been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in several large-scale clinical studies.
This preponderance of scientific data has caused many health organizations, including the American Heart Association (AHA), to recommend omega-3's as part of a healthy diet.
According to researchers at the Oregon Health and Science University, patients with implantable cardiovascular defibrillators (ICD) are not helped by fish oil supplementation.
Each person had an ICD and a recent history of irregular or rapid heartbeats- ventricular fibrillation (VF), and/or ventricular tachycardia (VT).
The findings do not apply to all patients with an ICD, just those with a history of VF or VT.
Also, the researchers admit that they can't rule out the possibility that chance or other factors played a role in their findings.
While the study found an increase in the risk of irregular heartbeats in the fish oil group, there wasn't an increase in the risk of death for patients on fish oil.
This has caused some experts to speculate that in this sample population, the trade-off may be more arrhythmias, but maybe the overall risk of dying is lower with fish oil supplementation.
Although caution may be in order if you recommend fish oil supplements to patients with ICDs and histories of VF or VT, additional studies (with perhaps larger sample populations) should be conducted before any definite conclusions are drawn regarding the role of fish oil in this population.
Many fish species contain unhealthy levels of environmental toxins that can negatively affect the purity and safety of the formula.
While it's difficult to completely avoid exposure to environmental pollutions from fish, you can avoid them with the right fish oil supplements.
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