Marc Joseph Nutrition - Blog

A somewhat sad commentary on the slow adoption in the U.S. of a simple, inexpensive, and effective way to help prevent and treat heart disease using fish oil:

Every patient in the cardiac care unit at the San Filippo Neri Hospital [Rome, Italy] who survives a heart attack goes home with a prescription for purified fish oil, or omega-3 fatty acids.

“It is clearly recommended in international guidelines,” said Dr. Massimo Santini, the hospital’s chief of cardiology, who added that it would be considered tantamount to malpractice in Italy to omit the drug.

In a large number of studies, prescription fish oil has been shown to improve survival after heart attacks and to reduce fatal heart rhythms. The American College of Cardiology recently strengthened its position on the medical benefit of fish oil, although some critics say that studies have not defined the magnitude of the effect.

But in the United States, heart attack victims are not generally given omega-3 fatty acids, even as they are routinely offered more expensive and invasive treatments, like pills to lower cholesterol or implantable defibrillators. Prescription fish oil, sold under the brand name Omacor, is not even approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in heart patients.

“Most cardiologists here are not giving omega-3’s even though the data supports it — there’s a real disconnect,” said Dr. Terry Jacobson, a preventive cardiologist at Emory University in Atlanta. “They have been very slow to incorporate the therapy.”

The article goes on to note that since the prescription fish oil is not licensed in the U.S. to prevent heart disease (only to treat high triglycerides), community doctors don’t learn of its potential preventive use and insurance companies don’t provide reimbursement.

Amazing, isn’t it?

The majority of Americans, not just heart attack patients, don’t get adequate intake of omega-3 fatty acids. Fish is by far the best food source of these healthy fats, but there are clearly toxicity risks. Supplements are a much safer route and help to ensure that you get a regular supply.

The prescription fish oil capsules are fine. They’re concentrated to have about three times more omega-3 fatty acids than most non-prescription products. But they’re also a lot more expensive and require a prescription.

Non-prescription products, as long as they’re tested for contaminants, are just as good. And some manufacturers even make concentrated formulas to reduce the number of necessary pills.

Most brands of fish oil are tested for contaminants. You can check many brands here.

Given the many benefits of omega-3 fatty acids in helping to prevent and treat disease, hopefully we’ll their use increase in medicine going forward — and not just in Europe.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 16th, 2006 at 9:34 pm and is filed under Seafood, Heart Disease, Essential Fatty Acids - EFAs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.