Fish oil supplements may help heart failure patients

02 September 2008

Omega-3 fish oil supplements may be more effective than a common cholesterol-lowering drug in patients with chronic heart failure, new research suggests.

The findings, which were published in the Lancet medical journal and presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Munich, are based on a study involving nearly 3,500 patients who took a daily supplement of fish-derived omega-3.

A separate group of patients were given a placebo and the participants were all studied for an average of four years.

The researchers found that 1,981 patients on fish oil supplements died of heart failure or were admitted to hospital within the study period, compared with 2,053 in the control group.

When they compared the results with those from a separate study in which patients received the drug rosuvastatin (Crestor), they found that fish oil performed slightly better against a placebo than did Crestor.

Professor Luigi Tavazzi, from the Italian Association of Hospital Cardiologists in Florence, told the Daily Telegraph that a daily 1g dose of omega-3 was "effective in reducing both all-cause mortality and admissions to hospital for cardiovascular reasons".

He continued: "This is the first study of omega-3 in patients with heart failure, an area which is not rich in new drugs," adding: "It's safe, simple and cheap."

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