Fish Oil Capsles

By Doug Donaldson

It's no tall tale: Fish oil capsules may help people with heart disease live longer.

That salmon sizzling on your grill is much more than a delicious meal. The pink steak’s fish oil (also available as supplements and prescriptions) may help heart attack sufferers live longer lives.

For years, European doctors have commonly prescribed fish oil to heart attack survivors. More than a decade ago, an Italian study showed a 20 percent decrease in death rate among patients who took 1 gram of fish oil a day versus a control group who didn’t. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve fish oil as a post-heart attack treatment, the practice is gaining support in the American medical community. The American College of Cardiology (ACC) recently beefed up its recommendations about the benefits of fish oil, also known as omega-3 fatty acids.

“There are survival advantages to taking fish oils,” says Matthew Sorrentino, M.D., a cardiologist and spokesperson for the ACC. “The mechanism isn’t clear, but fish oil may prevent additional heart attacks and abnormal rhythms.”
           
About 17 percent of U.S. doctors prescribe fish oil as a preventive heart-health measure, according to a study in Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. While Sorrentino advocates the benefits of fish oil capsules, he also encourages patients to eat more fish.
           
“Even for people without heart trouble, I’ll recommend two fish meals a week, which can give you some of the benefits of fish oil,” says Sorrentino, an associate professor in the University of Chicago Department of Medicine. “I’ll expand that to a daily dose for those who have a history of heart attack or whose triglycerides are higher than normal.”
           
For heart-healthy benefits, you need about 1–2 grams of fish oil daily, a challenge for most people to achieve by diet alone. You would have to eat 10 ounces of salmon—about three servings—to get 1 gram of fish oil.
           
An off-the-hook source of fish oil can be found in drug stores. However, Sorrentino warns that you may not be able to rely on the effectiveness of these supplements, because the concentration of oils varies from brand to brand and often within the same brand. Sorrentino believes that most over-the-counter fish oil supplements are safe, though they aren’t recommended for pregnant women because there is a concern that some may contain toxins and mercury. Another caution: Fish oils can increase your risk of bleeding, especially if you’re taking other medications that can add to the risk.
           
The prescription form of fish oil, sold under the brand name Omacor, is usually only prescribed for patients with high triglyceride levels. Before the FDA can approve its use for treating heart attack patients, clinical trials must be conducted in the United States.