Originally published January 12 2006
Japanese researcher studies the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on coronary health
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Mitsuhiro Yokoyama, MD, recently presented research to the American Heart Association that claims high doses of EPA, an omega-3 fatty acid, will help prevent angina, myocardial infarction and other coronary problems.
High doses of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), an omega 3 fatty acid, may help protect against myocardial infarction (MI), angina, and other coronary events in patients with hypercholesterolemia and a history of coronary disease, Japanese researchers report.
Mitsuhiro Yokoyama, MD, Chief, Cardiovascular and Respiratory Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kope, Japan, presented the findings here on November 14th at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2005 (AHA).
In the Japan EPA Lipid Intervention Study (JELIS), researchers randomized 18,645 men and women who were taking pravastatin or simvastatin for hypercholesterolemia to 1,800 mg/day of EPA or placebo.
Mean low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol was 181 mg/dL among the 9326 participants in the EPA arm and 182 mg/dL among the 9319 participants in the control group.
Adverse events included sudden cardiac death, fatal or non-fatal MI, unstable angina, and revascularization.
Further analysis showed that only the 3664 subjects with a history of heart disease benefited from the use of EPA.
This was equivalent to a 19% risk reduction in those taking EPA, which reached significance at the P =.01 level, Dr. Yokoyama reported.
Among the 14,981 subjects with no history of heart disease, there was an insignificant 18% risk reduction associated with EPA, he said..
"Omega-3 fatty acids have powerful benefits in preventing adverse outcomes compared with statins alone," Dr. Yokoyama said.
"LDL cholesterol was reduced by about the same amount in both arms of the study -- 26% -- yet EPA therapy lowered cardiovascular risk significantly more," he said.
Lawrence Appel, MD, Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, and an American Heart Association spokesman, said, "The study reinforces the benefits of fish oil in a high-risk population with prior cardiovascular disease."
"Eighteen hundred milligrams of highly purified EPA in capsule form per day is roughly 10 times the dose you get in a typical capsule.
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