Heart Health: Omega-3 Fatty Acids From Fish Oil Can Help People Heal After Suffering From A Heart Attack

Intake of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil is beneficial to the heart of patients who have suffered from a heart attack, a study has revealed. It was shown to have induced heart function and decreased scarring compared to heart attack patients given a placebo.

"Our findings show that omega-3 fatty acids are a safe and effective treatment in improving cardiac remodeling, so it may be promising in reducing the incidence of heart failure or death, which are still major healthcare burdens to patients who suffer a heart attack," said Dr. Raymond Y. Kwong, M.D., M.P.H, as per Science Daily. Kwong is the senior author of the study.

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The study involved 360 patients who had suffered a heart attack. Half were given a high daily dose of omega-3 fatty acids and half were given placebo six months after experiencing a heart attack. After this, the researchers examined the heart attack survivors' heart structure and function, according to a report from Medical News Today.

According to the report, the researchers found that the heart attack survivors who took omega-3 fatty acids had a 5.6 percent reduction in scarring of heart muscle that was undamaged from the heart attack. This group also had a 5.8 percent reduction in the left ventricular end-systolic volume index, which is said to be an indicator of a patient's outcome after a heart attack.

Another report from Reuters posted in Fox News referred to this reduction as the heart attack survivors having less blood in the left ventricle of the heart after contraction, which reportedly means their hearts were pumping blood more effectively. These group heart attack survivors had taken capsules of fish oil medication Lovaza while the other group had taken corn oil capsules.

"There's no way that eating fish will provide the same amount of omega-3 that patients got in this trial, although in general it's not a bad idea to try to eat more fatty fish," said Kwong, as quoted in the report. Kwong and his colleagues' study was published in Circulation, the American Heart Association's journal.