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Many people without known cardiovascular (CV) disease take omega-3 (ω-3) fatty acid supplements (“fish oil”) to prevent adverse CV events. However, recent studies cast doubt on this practice.
In the VITAL study, about 26,000 people (mean age, 67) without CV disease were randomized to 1-g capsules of fish oil (eicosapentaenoic acid plus docosahexaenoic acid) or placebo. During mean follow-up of 5.3 years, risks for the primary endpoint (nonfatal myocardial infarction [MI], stroke, or CV-related death) and all-cause death were similar in the two groups. Although the incidence of MI was significantly lower in the ω-3 group than in the placebo group, the absolute difference was small: 1.1% vs. 1.5% during 5 years of treatment (NEJM JW Gen Med De…