http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1357266
What do you guys think about this study? Would love to hear your thoughts.
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Well, I was finally able to look over this analysis a bit (thanks for the Pdf, Tamara!). First of all, they included the JELIS study which accounted for 10% of the weight. I would have left it out because it didn't test omega-3 alone, but omega-3 with a statin. Furthermore, the only form of omega-3 in the supplement was EPA only, with no DHA. Without this study, total mortality favors the fish oil even more (although still not in statistically significant territory). I noticed other answers mentioning the low doses of fish oil being used. It's worth speculating that perhaps total mortality wasn't statistically in favor of the fish oil group because people weren't taking enough to have a huge impact. Along with this, I found it interesting that some of the most supportive fish oil trials (specifically the studies by Von Schackey, Einvik, Raitt, and Sacks) used larger omega-3 doses and lasted at least 2-3 years. Ultimately though, I think this analysis confirms what I already suspected: fish oil isn't a panacea. It's probably beneficial in a number of ways (especially for the heart), but taking the refined form of an easily oxidized fat probably won't help us live to 150. |
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Here's a PDF link: http://extremelongevity.net/wp-content/uploads/fishoil.pdf Most participants in these studies already had cardiovascular disease and the median dose of combined EPA/DHA was 1 gram. That's not enough for a healthy person (from what I've studied) much less someone with cardiovascular disease. I didn't read the whole thing but it said something about the standard treatment being statins. I'm not sure that omega-3s reverse the damage of statins, because I've never heard that. Co-Q10 is supposed to have a protective effect against statins but then again I can't tell if the patients were actually on statins or given Omega-3s in lieu of statins. |
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I agree w/ the 1gr not even being close to a high enough dose. The other issue is was the amount of O6 accounted for? Standard american diet is extremely high in o6. O3 and o6 Compete for the receptors. O6 wins(per Robb Wolff) |
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I'm always a bit skeptical of these "Systematic Review and Meta-analysis"...because what it usually means is this "we excluded studies that don't conform to our agenda". I have not done this (don't really have the time to waste), but if you wanna dig into it you have to look at what studies they included/excluded, criteria used to do such, and weight given to the studies available. With systematic reviews I just assume bias until its proven otherwise. |
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