Oily fish and omega 3 fat supplements

doi:10.1136/bmj.38798.680185.47

BMJ 2006;332:739-740 (1 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.38798.680185.47 (published 24 March 2006)

Editorial

Oily fish and omega 3 fat supplements

Health recommendations conflict with concerns about dwindlingsupply

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Seventy five years ago, long chain omega 3 fatty acids wereadded to the list of essential nutrients. Later in the 20thcentury, the properties of marine polyunsaturated oils werelinked with several health benefits, including protection fromcardiovascular disease. However, a high quality systematic reviewpublished in this week's BMJ draws attention to uncertaintiesabout some of the health benefits attributed to omega 3 fats.¹

The review shows that the evidence for a reduction in cardiovascularevents and mortality is less conclusive than we believed. Aprevious meta-analysis indicates that mortality is reduced owingto fewer fatal coronary events among people ingesting omega3 fatty acids,² but the current review found no strong evidenceof a reduction in combined cardiovascular events. The claimthat omega 3 fats reduce the risk of cancer is not supportedhere or by another recent systematic review.³ For each healthoutcome there are . . . [Full text of this article]

Eric Brunner, reader in epidemiology and public health

UCL Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Royal Free and University College London Medical School, London WC1E 6BT
(e.brunner@ucl.ac.uk)

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Rapid Responses:

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