May 22, 2024 – One of essentially the most commonly used dietary supplements may pose a risk to heart health in otherwise healthy people.
A recent large-scale study has linked the intake of fish oil supplements to heart problems reminiscent of irregular heart rhythms or strokes.
For the study published this week in BMJ Medicine, The researchers analyzed hospital records and death data from 415,737 people aged 40 to 69 living within the United Kingdom. Almost a 3rd of individuals reported taking fish oil supplements recurrently, and these people were more prone to be women, older people and white.
Fish oil was related to a 13% higher risk of atrial fibrillation as a first-time heart problem and likewise a 5% higher risk of stroke as a first-time heart problem. Atrial fibrillation is an irregular (and sometimes very fast) heart rhythm that's related to a better risk of stroke.
However, there have been groups of individuals within the study who took fish oil recurrently who had a lower risk of heart problems. Among those that had heart disease, the chance of progressing from atrial fibrillation to a heart attack was 15% lower and the chance of death from heart failure, a condition that affects blood circulation, was 9% lower.
The authors wrote that the information used for the study from the UK Biobank, a big database for long-term research, didn't include detailed information on specific kinds of fish oil supplements or dosages. Because many of the study participants were white, the outcomes may not apply to people of other races or ethnicities, the authors cautioned.
An in depth evaluation by the researchers, which took under consideration aspects reminiscent of an individual's age, gender, smoking habits, blood pressure, use of cholesterol-lowering medications reminiscent of statins and fish consumption, influenced different risk levels.
“Regular use of fish oil supplements may be a risk factor for atrial fibrillation and stroke in the general population, but may have a positive effect on the development of cardiovascular disease, from atrial fibrillation to serious cardiovascular complications and from atrial fibrillation to death,” the authors said. “Further studies are needed to determine the exact mechanisms for the development and prognosis of cardiovascular disease with regular use of fish oil supplements.”