Defibrillators vs. Fish Oil against Heart Attacks

A recent report suggests that fish oil may actually save more lives than cardiac defibrillators. There have been many reports on the value of fish oil in fighting joint pain, arthritis other diseases. Now we find that the consumption of omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil is associated with a reduced risk of fatal heart rhythms, or arrhythmias.

To estimate the potential public impact of raising dietary intake of omega-3 oils using fish oil supplements, scientists performed a computer simulation of Americans, utilizing past medical data. Based on this model, they estimated that raising omega-3 levels would save 58 lives per 100,000 Americans each year, equivalent to a 6.4% reduction in total deaths, largely due to the prevention of sudden cardiac death in apparently healthy people. By preventing fatal heart rhythms, fish oil supplements may represent a safe, effective means of preventing sudden cardiac death in adults.

Far fewer lives would be saved by defibrillators, which are devices that deliver an electrical shock to correct a fatal, irregular heartbeat. Even if automated external defibrillators (portable devices that can be used by laypeople to shock someone in cardiac arrest) were present in every home and public area, the devices would only lower the annual death rate of a community by an estimated 1%. Implantable defibrillators would lower the cardiac death rate by 3.3%, approximately half the death rate reduction that could be achieved with fish oil supplements. However, since roughly half of adults who suffer from sudden cardiac death exhibit no warning signs before the fatal event, most would never be candidates for implanted defibrillators.