MONDAY July 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) – Omega-3 fatty acids (FAs) are associated with lower cardiovascular mortality and better cardiovascular outcomes, according to a review published online July 8 in eClinicalMedicine.

Safi U. Khan, MBBS, West Virginia University at Morgantown, and colleagues performed a systematic review of the literature to determine the effectiveness of omega-3 FAs on fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular outcomes. The meta-analysis included 38 randomized controlled trials (149,051 participants) of omega-3 FA, stratified by eicosapentaenoic acid monotherapy (EPA) and EPA + docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) therapy.

Researchers found that omega-3 FA intake was associated with reductions in cardiovascular mortality (rate report [RR], 0.93), non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI; RR: 0.87), coronary heart disease events (CHD) (RR: 0.91), major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE; RR: 0.95) and revascularization (RR: 0.91). EPA monotherapy was associated with greater risk reductions than EPA + DHA for cardiovascular mortality, non-fatal MI, coronary events, MACE, and revascularization. However, omega-3 FAs increased incident atrial fibrillation (RR, 1.26), while EPA monotherapy was associated with a higher risk of total bleeding (RR, 1.49) and atrial fibrillation. (RR, 1.35) compared to the control.

“This study provides evidence regarding the therapeutic efficacy of omega-3 FAs and may explain the conflicting results between trials of EPA monotherapy and those with EPA + DHA,” write the authors.

Several authors have reported financial links with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

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