Dallas, TX - The greater the dietary intake of either fish or n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), the lower the risk of some kinds of cardiovascular events, concluded investigators from a 11-year prospective follow-up of more than 40 000 Japanese men and women [1].

"Our large prospective study indicated that high consumption of fish (eight times per week, or 180 g/day) was associated with reduced risk of . . . myocardial infarction and nonfatal coronary heart disease compared with a modest fish consumption (once a week, or 23 g/day)," write Dr Hiroyasu Iso (Osaka University, Japan) and colleagues in a report in Circulation published online January 9, 2006. In contrast to some studies, there were no significant reductions in risk of sudden cardiac death or fatal coronary events, possibly because so few of those end points were observed, according to the group.

Fish and n-3 PUFA intakes were calculated based on questionnaires obtained in 1990 and 1995 from 19 985 men and 21 593 women who were initially aged 40 to 59 years and free of CV disease or cancer. The population was followed clinically until 2001. The observed significant, independent inverse relationships between fish or n-3 PUFA intakes by quintiles and CV events were independent of a range of demographic, clinical, and dietary variables.

There is abundant evidence that even small to moderate fish consumption can reduce CV risk, but whether going from moderate to high intake confers further protection, as this analysis suggests, "has never been tested by previous observational studies in Western countries," write Iso and colleagues. Their report is scheduled for publication in the journal's January 17, 2006 issue.