Saving Seafood

New study suggests fish oil derivative may benefit heart health

March 19, 2019 — New numbers suggest that a purified fish oil derivative, a prescription drug called Vascepa, is more effective at preventing cardiovascular events than previously thought.

The drug lowered the rate of these events in high-risk patients — including strokes, heart attacks and deaths from cardiovascular causes — by 30% overall versus placebo, according to a study published Monday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

This is better than previously thought because because the study authors took into account not just first cardiovascular events as before, but also second, third, fourth events, and so on. Earlier results were announced by Irish drugmaker Amarin Pharma in September and then in a study released November in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“By looking only at first events, we underestimate the true underlying treatment benefit offered,” study author Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt said in a statement Monday.

“With this drug, we are not only preventing that first heart attack but potentially the second stroke and maybe that third fatal event,” said Bhatt, executive director of interventional cardiovascular programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

According to these latest data on cardiovascular episodes, Vascepa slashed first events by a quarter, second and third events by more than 30%, and later events by almost a half. The researchers estimated that by treating a thousand patients for five years, they could prevent 76 coronary revascularizations, 42 heart attacks, 14 strokes, 16 hospitalizations due to unstable angina and 12 deaths related to cardiovascular causes.

Read the full story at CNN

Studies: Omega-3s temper premature births, heart attacks

November 21, 2018 — New research linking omega-3 fatty acids with a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases as well as the reduction of dangerous premature births is expected to have benefits for the seafood industry.

In a study of people who took Lovaza, a prescription omega-3 fish oil, researchers found that subjects were 28 percent less likely to suffer heart attacks than those taking a placebo. Additionally, people who ate fewer than 1.5 servings of fish weekly reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease by 19 percent when taking Lovaza.

The research was presented at the recent American Heart Association 2018 Scientific Sessions in Chicago, Illinois, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“The use of fish oil did not significantly reduce risk for those eating more seafood, but the average overall showed a reduced risk,” Dr. Tom Brenna, a professor of pediatrics, chemistry, and nutrition at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, and chair of Seafood Nutrition Partnership’s Scientific and Nutrition Advisory Council, told SeafoodSource. “The message here is, ‘If you don’t eat fish, take supplements.'”

Alongside the Lovaza study, a new Cochrane Review of 70 studies worldwide found that omega-3 fatty acids reduced dangerous preterm births by 42 percent.

The extensive review of published studies, which included 20,000 pregnant women, also revealed an 11 percent reduction in preterm births, and a 10 percent reduction in risk of having a low-birthweight baby. The researchers reviewed studies involving fish oil supplements as well as seafood.

“This study is further evidence that health professionals should be actively promoting fish and omega-3s among pregnant women as they have possibly the most to gain from eating more fish,” Jennifer McGuire, a registered dietitian for the National Fisheries Institute, told SeafoodSource.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Fish-oil drugs protect heart health, two studies say

November 12, 2018 — Two major studies released Saturday provide evidence that medications derived from fish oil are effective in protecting people from fatal heart attacks, strokes and other forms of cardiovascular disease.

The large, multiyear research efforts tested different formulations and quantities of drugs made with Omega-3 fatty acids on two groups of people: one that suffered from cardiovascular disease or diabetes and another that represented the general population. Both studies found that people who took the drugs every day enjoyed protection against some heart and circulatory problems compared with those given a placebo.

In a look at another commonly consumed supplement, vitamin D, researchers found no effect on heart disease but saw a link to a decline in cancer deaths over time.

The research was released Saturday at the American Heart Association’s 2018 Scientific Sessions in Chicago and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

About 43 million people in the United States take statins to lower LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol, and the drugs are credited with reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. But heart disease remains the leading killer of Americans. In recent years, a long, steady decrease in heart disease deaths has slowed. So researchers are seeking other ways to combat cardiovascular disease beyond known protective factors such as changes in diet, exercise and smoking habits.

One of the studies unveiled Saturday, named by the acronym REDUCE-IT, determined that people with cardiovascular disease who were already taking statins stood less chance of serious heart issues when they were also given two grams of the drug Vascepa (icosapent ethyl) twice a day.

Read the full story at The Washington Post