Exploring New and Old Health News Today – Omega 3 Fatty Acids Help Remodel the Heart Post Heart attack

GC Biosciences

Updated 24th October 2019

Omega 3 fatty acids help remodel the heart decreasing the chances of heart failure and death. After an heart attack people are concerned about their health and longevity and rightly so. Following on from our series in anti-ageing it’s equally important to get the new information out there to heart attack survivors as much as it is getting them to pay attention to lifestyle modifications.

What can you do if you have had an heart attack and survived. Here’s a quick summary of what you should be doing to prevent a secondary episode:

• Reducing weight to fall in line with your BMI
• Making sure your resting blood pressure is within the normal range which is 120/80
• Cardiovascular exercise after you’ve been cleared by your doctor
• Follow a Mediterranean diet that’s 15% lower than the caloric intake for a male or female
• Don’t take any recreational drugs
• Limit alcohol intake

Is there anything else following a heart attack I can do to reduce the risk of a secondary event or heart failure or even death?

After a heart attack it is known that the hearts shape and function can be changed, which is known as post-heart attack remodelling and is linked to poor recovery. Fish oil is known for its impact on helping people maintain a healthy heart, although research is limited on a damaged heart. In a randomised clinical trial, researchers compared a placebo  to 4 grams of fish oil daily for 6 months as part of a recovery treatment following a heart attack. The findings showed a decrease of 5.8% in left ventricular systolic volume index and 5.6% decrease in scarred connective tissue formation in the non-damaged heart muscle. This research shows that taking 4g of fish oils after a heart attack for recovery could assist in the treatment of improving cardiac remodelling and reduce heart failure or death.

Make sure to talk to your doctor if you are thinking about adding Omega 3 fatty acids supplementation into your diet.

If you have missed any of our recent new flashes on anti-ageing and longevity you can read the latest two here and here

References:

‘EFFECT OF PURIFIED OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS ON REDUCING LEFT VENTRICULAR REMODELING AFTER ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION (OMEGA-REMODEL STUDY: A DOUBLE-BLIND RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL).’ (2015). Elsevier B.V., 65(10), pp. A1083–A1083. doi: 10.1016/S0735-1097(15)61083-X.