News is always meant to be the information equivalent of “junk food” – giving instant satisfaction with very little real nutrition. This is why headlines (in Vancouver too!) are meant to capture and pique your interest and then give something to talk about over at the water cooler. This makes most Vancouver naturopaths irritated.
Unfortunately, this type of mentality has spread over to news stories that are about natural health products. One of the most unequivocal axioms of nutrition and health is that good fats are good for you, and especially that fish oil is good for your heart. And thus, when a study is published in the BMJ that reviews the effects of fish oil, it receives press in the most sensational way.
The headlines read: “Benefits of fish oil supplements questioned” and “Study questions fish oil benefits” and “Fish oils Hold no benefit for arrythmia patients” - which leads the casual observer to believe that fish oils don’t help heart disease patients. Only the last headline gave one of the conclusion of the study.
Directly quoted from the actual study:
We observed a significant 20% reduction in deaths from cardiac causes. This is similar to previous systematic reviews that included studies of dietary intake of fish oil either by increased intake or supplementation, which showed a significant reduction in cardiovascular events (including strokes). Most of these events were, however, related mainly to a reduction in deaths from coronary events with a reduction in risk ranging from 24% to 36%.8 22 23 24 Experimental studies have proposed that fish oil helps to stabilise the atherosclerotic plaque through several mechanisms
A 20% reduction in cardiac deaths didn’t make the news. Unfortunately, the only thing that made the news was that fish oil does not manifest its benefit through reducing abnormal heart rhythm. It manifests its benefit by stabilizing plaque in arteries.
Related links from my website:
Fish oils, Vioxx, and heart disease: how they are linked
Studies on chelation therapy as a natural treatment for heart disease
Aggressive natural therapies for coronary artery disease
Plaquex and phosphatidyl choline for heart disease and removing plaque
Why I love treating heart disease
