Fish oil

[Prozoner]

Good morning, the clinical trials director of a well-known supplement company had this to say about fish oil supplementation and A-fib (and I wanted to know what you folks thought about what he said to me):

Taking high doses of EPA and DHA may increase the risk for A-fib. A-fib is a condition in which you can have an irregular and often rapid heart beat that may lead to clotting and increase your risk for heart disease and strokes. On the other hand, high dose omega-3 fatty acids have been clinically shown to reduce clot formation. Thus the two effects can cancel out each other. This is suggested in a recent study indicating that those with the highest circulating levels of EPA, DHA, and DPA had a decreased risk for death from all-cause mortality. Similar relationships were seen for decreased risk of death from cardiovascular disease, cancer and other causes. So it appears the increased omega-3 intake may outweigh the negative consequences of increased A-fib.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

We discussed both of these things in our podcast on fish oil: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...580233879&l=fr

As far as the clinical trial director's comment, it is difficult to make the leap from the observational finding that folks with the highest levels of EPA, DHA, and DPA have the lowest all-cause mortality to those that supplement fish oil have a reduction in blood clot risk that is proportional to a-fib risk. To do so would require extensive data sets, which presently DO NOT SUPPORT this claim.

This is all layered over the background that supplemental OTC fish oil has not been found to provide reliable health benefits period.

[Austin Baraki]

Just to reiterate ...

A-fib is a condition in which you can have an irregular and often rapid heart beat that may lead to clotting and increase your risk for heart disease and strokes. On the other hand, high dose omega-3 fatty acids have been clinically shown to reduce clot formation. Thus the two effects can cancel out each other.

... is this clinical trials director a physician? This is a shockingly dangerous, sweeping claim to make, especially based on the irrelevant observational data he uses for support. That people with higher circulating levels have lower risk of mortality does not support his claim, for a variety of reasons.