Omega-3 fatty acids not found to up risk of heart disease

(HealthDay)—Supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids is not associated with fatal or nonfatal coronary heart disease or major vascular events, according to a review published online Jan. 31 in JAMA Cardiology.

Theingi Aung, M.B.B.S., from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of all large trials assessing the correlation of omega-3 fatty acid supplements with the risk of fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease and major vascular events. Study-level data were obtained from 10 large randomized clinical trials with a total of 77,917 high-risk individuals; the trials lasted a mean of 4.4 years.

The researchers found that there was no correlation for randomization to omega-3 fatty acid supplementation with coronary heart disease death (rate ratio, 0.93; 99 percent confidence interval, 0.83 to 1.03; P = 0.05), nonfatal myocardial infarction (rate ratio, 0.97; 99 percent confidence interval, 0.87 to 1.08; P = 0.43), or any coronary heart disease events (rate ratio, 0.96; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.9 to 1.01; P = 0.12). Randomization to omega-3 fatty acid supplementation also had no significant associations with major vascular events (rate ratio, 0.97; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.93 to 1.1; P = 0.1) overall or in any subgroups.

This meta-analysis "provides no support for current recommendations for the use of such supplements in people with a history of coronary heart disease," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.