3 Reasons to Use the Omega 3 Fish Oils - EPA and DHA

EPA and DHA Fish Oil Capsules

1 - Potential Heart Protection

Heart disease is the #1 cause of death in the U.S. according to the CDC and my family line has a strong history of this. You have probably have seen the commercials for Lovaza®. It is esterified fish oil, EPA and DHA, given to lower blood triglycerides - these are the fats that circulate in your blood. If you listen closely you will note that they have not been proven to reduce the rate of death from heart disease.

Drug companies are very closely regulated in their advertisements by the FDA so they will not mislead consumers. Whether post-marketing data will show a reduction in death is something we can look for over the next decade or so. If they can find another indication for it they will look long and hard.

Even with normal triglyceride levels, EPA and DHA fish oils may still be beneficial - studies have shown associations of low levels of EPA and DHA with heart problems and "fattier" plaques on the insides of blood vessels; fattier plaques are easier to rupture, which can lead to a heart attack.

One study out of Japan headed by Dr Tetsuya Amano studied patients who were undergoing coronary angiography - where they look at the vessels with a catheter. They used ultrasound to evaluate what the plaques inside the vessels were composed of.

Dr Amano and his group found that:

1) Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ie: heart attacks) had lower levels of the fish oil EPA detectable in the blood

2) Plaques from patients with low EPA levels were composed more of lipid (fat) instead of fibrous material

It should be noted that this was an observational study, so it cannot make definitive conclusions about the intake of the Omega 3 Fish Oils EPA and DHA on heart plaques.

2 - Potential Stroke Protection

Imagine feeling kind of funny, maybe a bit weak before you go to bed. You think nothing of it, decide to sleep it off. Then you wake up and cannot move half of your body and the sounds coming out of your mouth don't make sense to anyone.

A stroke is a life-changing event which I want to avoid.

According to the AHA/ASA, some of the best ways to prevent stroke are:

- Control your blood pressure - high blood pressure raises your risk 8X

- Quit smoking - smoking gives 2-3X the risk

- Control your cholesterol

- Try your best to avoid becoming diabetic; if diabetic then work hard to control you­r blood pressure and cholesterol.

- Control your atrial fibrillation (A-fib) and take your Coumadin®, Aspirin, or Pradaxa® as instructed by your doctor.

- Stay under 55 years old. (Yeah this one is kind of tough... )

One risk factor that DOUBLES Stroke Risk is carotid stenosis. - this is when the vessel delivering blood to your brain is not as wide as it should be.

A benefit of taking EPA and DHA Omega 3 fish oils is their possible association with something called the carotid intima-media thickness.

What exactly is this? Glad you asked:
- Carotid: a blood vessel heading up to brain along sides of neck
- Intima: a really thin inner layer of the blood vessel
- Media: a middle layer of the blood vessel

So, when the intima layer and media layer are measured together, they give you: Carotid intima-media thickness

Carotid intima-media thickness was shown in the journal Stroke to be an independent predictor of cardiovascular events, including stroke.

Rates of disease are differ between countries and cultures. For example, the Japanese get about 10X the amount of Omega 3 Fish Oils in their diet than we do. Therefore a good amount of research is done comparing their population and diseases to ours in the U.S.

The Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2008 published a study showing that Japanese men who have high blood levels of Omega 3 fish oils have less carotid intima-media thickness.

Furthermore, in 2011 Dr. Sekikawa and his group showed that the association is mainly due to the DHA part of Omega 3 fish oil.

3 - Possible Natural Anti-depressants

Many times I have seen patients that can lead a rewarding and fulfilling life, if they could only break through the wall of depression that is holding them back. When you see something like this, you certainly want to do your best to avoid it happening to you.

Take as an example something very close to my heart - the medical residency. A study headed by Dr. Srijan Sen found that:

- 4% of incoming medical residents meet depression criteria before starting.

- Less than a year later, that number is 26%.

A meta-analysis of EPA and DHA fish oil use in clinical trials of depression showed that supplements containing more of the fish oil EPA over the fish oil DHA were effective against primary depression.

Remember, depression is a serious condition, you suffer from it please see a professional; don't try and self-medicate.

3 final tips for choosing an omega 3 fish oil brand for EPA or DHA:

- Purity - Purity - Purity

Fish pick up contamination and pollutants such as mercury and other heavy metals very easily. Other than the possible contaminants Omega 3 fish oils like EPA and DHA are quite safe; they can theoretically act as a mild blood thinner so be sure to ask your doctor if this is a problem for you, and I would stop using either EPA and DHA fish oils about a week before any surgery.

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