HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, March 18, 2021 (HealthDay News) – For people hoping to prevent a heart rhythm disorder called “a-fib,” new research shows that taking vitamin D or fish oil products may not help.
A-fib, also known as atrial fibrillation, affects more than 33 million people worldwide and is the most common type of heart rhythm. It can cause symptoms that affect a person’s quality of life, lead to blood clots that can cause a stroke, and also cause heart failure.
For the study, the researchers examined whether vitamin D medications or omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil could be influenced by different types of a-fib, and whether some patients would be more likely to benefit. or be injured by the accessories.
Overall, the results were broadly consistent across the different types of fib and patient groups, according to lead author Dr. Christine Albert and colleagues. Albert is chair of the cardiology department at the Smidt Heart Institute in Los Angeles.
follow up
The study, published March 16 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, following a presentation by Albert at last year’s American Heart Association conference.
“Our proposal is as it stands,” she said in a JAMA Network press release. “We do not support the administration of fish oil or vitamin D products to prevent atrial fibrillation.”
However, “unlike other recent trials that found increased risks of atrial fibrillation with higher-dose omega-3 fatty acids, our study found no significantly greater risk of atrial fibrillation with one gram of fish oil per day , which is good news for individuals taking low – dose fish oil for other health ailments, “said Albert.
Her team also found that vitamin D medications at 2,000 international units per day did not increase the risk of fib.
Find out more
The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more on atrial fibrillation.
SOURCE: JAMA Network, press release, 16 March 2021