OT - HEALTH: Omega-3 boosts short- as well as long-term heart health

[Guest guest]

This item in via the SoFlaVegans list - thanks, Fidyl! - and although OT for

this list I

think it's something we all need to know. These are new findings, and they are

important ones.

 

(Warning: in discussing omega-3, the article makes reference to f*sh.)

 

Best, Pat

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Omega-3 boosts short- as well as long-term heart

health

13/04/2005

 

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=59378 & m=1fnu413 & c=

qdrhrvoeraoqydo

 

Daily supplementation with fish or soy oil has

been shown to increase

elderly people’s heart rate variability (HRV)

and may stave off the

risk of sudden cardiac death in the short term,

write researchers in

April’s issue of Chest.

 

“Reduced HRV predicts mortality and arrhythmic

complications in

patients who have had a heart attack, as well as

those who are

considered healthy,� said lead scientist Dr

Fernando Holguin of the

Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

 

“Taking a daily supplement of fish or soy oil

may help reduce the

risk of suffering an adverse cardiovascular

event, such as arrhythmia

or sudden death, specially in persons with known

cardiovascular

disease or at increased risk for it, such as

those with lipid

disorders, advanced age, hypertension, a history

of smoking, and

family history of heart disease.�

 

In a randomized study involving 58 elderly

nursing home residents,

Holguin undertook the randomized study to assess

the effect of

omega-3 fatty acids on heart function, which is

measured in

high-frequency (HF) and low-frequency (LF) domain

components and

standard deviation of normal RR intervals (SDNN).

 

After a two-month supplement-free control period

to establish a

baseline HRV for each patient, participants

received a daily 2g dose

of either marine- or plant-derived omega-3 fatty

acid (fish oil or

soy oil respectively).

 

Over an eleven-week period their HRV was measured

for six minutes

every other day, while they were lying down.

 

The researchers found that supplementation

“increased

significantly� the average time- and

frequency-domain parameters of

HRV in both the fish and soy oil groups.

 

After adjustments were made for age and mean

heart rate,

supplementation with fish oil was associated with

a “significant

increase� in both HF and LF components and in

SDNN.

 

In the soy oil group, only a “marginally

significant� HF and LF

components was seen, coupled with a

“significant increase� in

SDNN.

 

The fish oil supplements also delivered an

increase in HRV in a

shorter time period †" within 2.7 weeks compared

with 8.1 weeks for

soy oil.

 

“Our findings contradict the current belief in

the medical

community that increasing the intake of omega-3

fatty acids produces

only long-term cardiac benefits,� said Holguin.