Fish oil capsules save lives

A new review of Omega 3 supplements, published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine,has revealed scientific evidence showing fish oil capsules prevented the deaths of almost one in 10 patients with heart failure. Professor Cowie, of Imperial College London and the Royal Brompton Hospital, has subsequently claimed that giving fish oil capsules to patients could save 10,000 lives a year.

British cardiologists say that as a result the guidelines are now being rewritten to advise that heart failure patients take one capsule daily.

Around 700,000 Britons suffer from heart failure, 68,000 new cases are diagnosed each year and it is thought to kill 100,000 a year. Survival rates are worse than for breast and prostate cancer.

In the study 7,000 heart failure patients were monitored over 4 and a half years and saw a 9% fall in death rate in those taking purified fish oil and an 8% fall in hospitalisation rates. It was noted that the benefits reached a peak after 2 years of taking the tablets.

Omega-3 fatty acids are natural polyunsaturates and can be found naturally in oily fish, soya beans, rapeseed oil, flaxseed, pumpkin seeds and walnuts.

The fats are important throughout adult life for mental wellbeing but in particular help heart patients - and those with arthritis - by blocking the body's response to inflammation, cutting blood fats, reducing the chances of a blood clot and blocking dangerous heart rhythms.

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