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Fish oil no heart help

There's no firm evidence that fish oil supplements - recommended by many experts and organisations for heart health - actually benefit heart patients, says a study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Lead author David Jenkins, a professor of medicine and nutritional science at the University of Toronto, and his colleagues analyzed three large studies that looked at heart patients and fish oil supplements.

One of the studies found that fish oil was beneficial, one found that fish oil had no effect, and one found that fish oil actually left heart patients in worse shape, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported.

Patients who are already taking beta blockers and other anti-heart-attack medicines seem to derive the most benefit from fish-oil supplements, but there's no evidence that fish oil alone is a proven preventive, Jenkins said.

He recommended more large studies to examine exactly what effects fish oil may have on heart patients, the Globe and Mail reported. – (HealthDayNews)

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January 2008

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