Researchers have highlighted a link between the consumption of fish oil, recommended against cardiovascular diseases, and an increase in heart risk in healthy people.
- Researchers evaluated the potential role of fish oil supplementation on the risk of progression from good heart health to atrial fibrillation, major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, and death.
- Among participants who had cardiovascular disease at the start of the follow-up period, it was associated with lower risk.
- In contrast, the risk jumped among people who did not have known cardiovascular disease at the start of the follow-up period.
Fish oil is a rich source of omega 3 fatty acids and, as such, is often recommended as part of a diet to prevent the development of cardiovascular disease, as studies here and there confirm. But the results of a vast survey, published in the journal BMJ Medicinesuggest at the same time that in healthy people, regular consumption of this oil could actually increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
A third of participants say they consume fish and fish oil
To arrive at this observation, researchers from Sun Yat-Sen University, in China, relied on data from some 415,000 participants in the UK Biobank study, aged 40 to 69, interviewed in 2006 and 2010 on their habitual use of fish, fatty and non-fatty, and fish oil supplements in their diet. Nearly a third of the volunteers (31.5%) said they consumed it regularly. Their state of health was followed until the end of March 2021, or until death for some, an average period of almost 12 years.
The researchers were thus able to evaluate the potential role of fish oil supplementation on the risk of transition from good heart health (primary stage) to atrial fibrillation (secondary), to major cardiovascular events such as a heart attack (tertiary ), and death from all causes (terminal). During the study, about 18,000 people developed atrial fibrillation, 22,000 had a heart attack, stroke or heart failure, and 22,000 died (two-thirds without atrial fibrillation or serious cardiovascular disease).
Fish oil associated with cardiovascular risk in healthy people
“Regular use of fish oil supplements had different roles in cardiovascular health, disease progression and death”can we read in a communicated. Among participants who had cardiovascular disease at the start of the follow-up period, it was associated with a 15% lower risk of progression from atrial fibrillation to heart attack, and a 9% lower risk of progression from atrial fibrillation to heart attack. heart failure at death. In contrast, among people who did not have pre-existing cardiovascular disease, the risks of developing atrial fibrillation and suffering a stroke jumped by 13% and 5%, respectively.
Also note that “Age, sex, smoking, high blood pressure, and use of statins and hypotensive medications modified the observed associations”a little stronger among women and non-smokers.
“As this is an observational study, no conclusions can be drawn about the causes [de ces associations], admit the researchers. No potentially influential information was available on the dose or formulation of fish oil supplements. […] Further studies are needed to determine the precise mechanisms of development and prognosis of cardiovascular disease events related to this supplementation.”
