Fish oils may reduce heart damage during bypass surgery - February 27, 2006

Taking omega-3 fish oil supplements before heart bypass surgery can reduce damage to the heart and improve levels of cholesterol and other blood fats according to Philip R Belcher, MD, a cardiac surgeon at the Royal Infirmary, University of Glasgow, Scotland.

Belcher and colleagues gave 40 patients either 8g of fish oil capsules or placebos daily for six weeks before heart bypass surgery. They reported that levels of cardiac troponin - a marker of cardiac damage - increased immediately after surgery. However, troponin levels remained significantly higher in the placebo group 24 hours after surgery. Belcher noted: This was not observed in the fish oil group thus possibly indicating a protective effect.

Patients taking fish oils had significant decreases in very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and triglyceride levels and increases in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels. 'These effects were the opposite of those observed with the placebo group, where there was a reduction in HDL cholesterol and an increase in plasma triglycerides and VLDL,' Belcher noted. He concluded that pre-operative fish oils 'may moderate post-operative myocardial damage.'