Content area
Full Text
(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)
[dagger]
Javier Delgado-Lista and Pablo Perez-Martinez contributed equally to the production of this article.
Out of all the proposed beneficial effects on health of long chain omega-3 fatty acids, those affecting cardiovascular disease are, nowadays, those that receive more attention in clinical medicine. Evidence from epidemiological, observational and clinical trial studies have led the American Heart Association (AHA) to recommend their consumption, and thus omega-3 fatty acids have emerged as real players in the prevention of cardiovascular (mainly coronary) events(1,2). These recommendations include two servings of blue fish a week for the general population (to achieve a mean of 500 mg/d), and 1 g/d of marine omega-3 (EPA and DHA) in patients with coronary disease. As the contribution of omega-3 in the diet of many Western countries is far below the recommended figures, there is a clear need to increase their consumption. Although the inclusion of novel agents in the therapeutic guidelines of the AHA scientific committee is reserved for those interventions whose effectiveness and safety is beyond all doubt, controversial results have been published in recent reviews and meta-analysis reporting both positive and negative findings on the effectiveness of omega-3 fatty acids(3-6).
Research into omega-3 fatty acids has evolved from studies where their activity was tested, to a more complex scenario, where authors look for the potential underlying mechanisms that may be causing these effects. In other words, authors have switched from a perspective in which they treated to show the effects of omega-3 to another in which they aim to show how they work. Furthermore, this may lead to a bias when trying to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention, which is theoretically yet to be proven. Scientists may well think that journals are not very eager to include articles that show 'again' that omega-3 fatty acids are effective, instead of why they are so. Actually, research in this field is extremely active in this moment. A prior examination of the studies reported in PubMed regarding omega-3 fatty acids and cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular risk factors accounted for more than seventy thousand items. Over the last four years, the production of such...