COPENHAGEN, Denmark—Consuming little or no long-chain omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs) was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a large prospective cohort of relatively young and initially healthy women (DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.111.179382). The study, published online in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association, reported young women may reduce their heart disease risk by eating fish and increasing intake of omega 3 fatty acids.
The study found women who seldom or never eat fish increased their risk of CVD by 50 percent or more over an eight-year period compared to those who ate fish regularly. Those who ate fish most often, especially fish rich in omega 3 fatty acids, had a 90-percent lower risk than those who ate little or no fish, and the link with CVD was evident among women as young as in their 30s.
Researchers used a Danish nationwide population based pregnancy cohort to examine whether or not eating more fish might reduce CVD risk in the young women. About 49,000 women, 15 to 49 years old, median age of just under 30 years in early pregnancy, were interviewed by telephone or answered food frequency questionnaires about how much, what types and how often they ate fish, as well as lifestyle and family history questions. Researchers recorded 577 cardiovascular events during the eight-year period, including five cardiovascular deaths in women without any prior diagnosis of the disease. In all, 328 events were due to hypertensive disease, 146 from cerebrovascular disease and 103 from ischemic heart disease.
Inpatient and outpatient admission for CVD was much more common among women who reported eating little or no fish. In three different assessments over a 30-week period, women who never ate fish had a three-fold higher disease risk compared to women who ate fish every week.
"To our knowledge this is the first study of this size to focus exclusively on women of childbearing age," said Marin Strom, Ph.D., lead researcher and post doctoral fellow at the Centre for Fetal Programming, at Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark. "The biggest challenge in getting health messages like this across to younger populations is that usually the benefits may not be evident for 30 or 40 years, but our study shows this is not the case. We saw a strong association with cardiovascular disease in the women who were still in their late 30s."
Fish oil contains long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are believed to protect against heart and vascular disease.
Most previous studies that found cardiovascular benefits of omega-3 fatty acids have focused on men, according to Strom. "Men and women share many cardiovascular risk factors, but some studies have shown that there might also be gender differences. For example, inflammation, cholesterol and triglyceride levels may have a more negative influence among women," Strom said.
For more on the health benefits of omega-3s, check out INSIDER's recent article on marine ingredients.
