Lee Swanson Research Update

Omega-3 May Help Survival Rates for Heart Patients

A daily supplement of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids may reduce mortality and admission to the hospital for cardiovascular reasons in patients with heart failure, according to a new study published in The Lancet.

Mortality rates were reduced by nine percent and hospital admission for cardiovascular reasons was cut by eight percent on heart failure patients assigned to receive omega-3, compared to placebo. Italian researchers recruited heart failure patients from across the country to take part in the study.

“We have shown that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid…is effective and safe in a large population of patients with heart failure of any cause, who are receiving standard clinical care provided in hospitals and ambulatory facilities in Italy,” wrote the researchers, led by Professor Luigi Tavazzi and Professor Gianni Tognoni, GISSI-HF Coordinating Care Center at the ANMCO Research Center in Florence, and Mario Negri Institute in Milan. “Since we invited all cardiology centers operating in Italy to participate in this trial, and most did so, the results indicate what is likely to happen in the real world during the course of several years.”

While several epidemiological and experimental studies have reported beneficial effects of omega-3 fatty acids on cardiovascular disease, the researchers noted that no large-scale trials have investigated the efficacy of omega-3 fatty acids in heart failure.

In order to fill these gaps, the Italian researchers recruited 6,975 patients with chronic heart failure, and randomly assigned them to receive either a daily omega-3 supplement (850 to 822 mg EPA and DHA as ethyl esters in the average ratio of 1:1.2) or placebo for 3.9 years.

At the end of the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 955 deaths from all causes were documented in the omega-3 group, while 1,014 deaths were recorded in the placebo group. This equated to a nine percent relative risk in the omega-3 group.

Moreover, a lower proportion of patients in the omega-3 group (1,981 people, or 57%) were admitted to the hospital for cardiovascular reasons than in the placebo group (2,053 people or 59%). This equated to a relative reduction of eight percent in the omega-3 group, researchers said.

“Our study shows that the long-term administration of one gram per day of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids was effective in reducing both all-cause mortality and admissions to hospital for cardiovascular reasons,” the researchers concluded.

The Lancet published online ahead of print.

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