June 2005

Fish oil supplements may be harmful to some patients?

Fish oil supplements have proved effective in reducing the risk of sudden cardiac death, but a new study shows the oil may actually increase life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms in patients with implanted defibrillators.

The study, led by heart researchers at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Oregon Health and Science University was published in the June 15 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

The results showed fish oil did not prevent life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms; rather, it tended to increase the risk of VT and VF. After six months in the study, 36 percent of patients assigned to the placebo had an episode of VT or VF compared with 46 percent of patients who were in the fish oil group.

Other institutions who participated in the study were: Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, Portland, Ore.; Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore.; Sacred Heart Medical Center, Eugene, Ore.; Southwest Washington Medical Center, Vancouver, Wash.; and Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, Mass.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, a Public Health Service grant and Hoffman-LaRoche, Inc.

Source: Oregon Health Sciences University, www.ohsu.edu/

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