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Dietary intake of long-chain n–3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and the risk of primary cardiac arrest^1,2,3

¹ From the Cardiovascular Health Research Unit, Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle; the Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle; the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and the Division of Epidemiology, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis.

Whether the dietary intake of long-chain n–3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) from seafood reduces the risk of ischemic heart disease remains a source of controversy, in part because studies have yielded inconsistent findings. Results from experimental studies in animals suggest that recent dietary intake of long-chain n–3 PUFAs, compared with saturated and monounsaturated fats, reduces vulnerability to ventricular fibrillation, a life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia that is a major cause of ischemic heart disease mortality. Until recently, whether a similar effect of long-chain n–3 PUFAs from seafood occurred in humans was unknown. We summarize the findings from a population-based case-control study that showed that the dietary intake of long-chain n–3 PUFAs from seafood, measured both directly with a questionnaire and indirectly with a biomarker, is associated with a reduced risk of primary cardiac arrest in humans. The findings also suggest that 1) compared with no seafood intake, modest dietary intake of long-chain n–3 PUFAs from seafood (equivalent to 1 fatty fish meal/wk) is associated with a reduction in the risk of primary cardiac arrest; 2) compared with modest intake, higher intakes of these fatty acids are not associated with a further reduction in such risk; and 3) the reduced risk of primary cardiac arrest may be mediated, at least in part, by the effect of dietary n–3 PUFA intake on cell membrane fatty acid composition. These findings also may help to explain the apparent inconsistencies in earlier studies of long-chain n–3 PUFA intake and ischemic heart disease.

Key Words: n–3 Fatty acids • diet • risk factors • arrythmia • sudden death • cardiac arrest • ischemic heart disease

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