Fish, Soy Oil Quickly Cut Heart Attack Risk
(HealthDayNews, 4/11/05)

A healthy heart constantly fine-tunes the timing between heartbeats. Doctors can assess these variations using Heart Rate Variability (HRV) testing, which distinguishes normal heartbeats from potentially dangerous arrhythmias. In this study, Dr. Fernando Holguin of Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, and colleagues, used this technique to evaluate 52 elderly nursing home residents, none of whom ordinarily ate fish. First the researchers tested the patients’ HRV levels every other day for two months; then, they gave the subjects daily capsules containing 2 grams of either fish oil or soy oil and continued the testing over the next 11 weeks. The investigators found that both groups exhibited increased HRV variations, indicating that both types of omega-3 fatty acid supplements normalized heart function. While soy oil capsules caused the least amount of belching, HRV levels improved more quickly and across a wider spectrum of electrical impulses in subjects taking the fish oil. These findings suggest that taking omega-3 fatty acids may preserve healthy heart function and thereby avert fatal heart attacks.

(Chest, April 2005)