Fish in diet may help maintain heart rhythm
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-07-25 14:05
Eating tuna or other broiled or baked fish appears to have a beneficial
effect on the electrical system of the heart, which may help prevent
life-threatening heart rhythm disorders, according to a new report.
Previous reports have linked fish intake with a reduced risk of sudden death
and irregular heart beats, but the mechanisms responsible for this association
were unknown. However, evidence from animal studies has suggested a direct
effect from fish oil intake on the hearts electrical circuitry.
As reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Dr. Dariush
Mozaffarian, of Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues analyzed data
from 5096 adults enrolled in the Cardiovascular Health Study to investigate the
link between dietary intake of fish n-3 fatty acid and features seen on
electrocardiograms.
The population-based study, which focused on cardiovascular disease risk
factors, ran from 1989 to 1990 and involved subjects who were at least 65 years
of age.
Intake of tuna or other broiled or baked fish at least once a week was
associated with a slower heart rate than was eating these fish less than once a
month.
Moreover, fish intake at least five times per week was associated with an
even healthier heart rhythm. Consumption of marine n-3 fatty acids appeared to
have similar effects.
Intake of fried fish was not associated with any ECG changes.
"Previously," Mozaffarian said in a statement, "we have seen that intake of
fried fish -- which in the US are most often commercially sold fish burgers or
fish sticks -- is not associated with blood levels of n-3 fatty acids. This
suggests that it may be the n-3 fatty acids in tuna and other broiled or baked
fish that are having a positive impact on the heart's electrical parameters."
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