Fish Oil Supplement Claims Don't Match The Science, Study; Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Heart Health

[Quakerfriend]

23. Thanks for the follow up! One of the most

astounding things I have ever seen, medically, has never left me.

This was a study set up to look at the effects of fish oil in patients with nephrotic syndrome- a disease of the kidneys that causes the kidney to become sort of like Swiss cheese, allowing large particles like chol and trig through. Hence, these patients tend to have very high chol and trig levels - I’ve seen chol 700, trig of 1500!

The study was blinded & tightly controlled- Patient received a controlled diet and were randomized to receive 10g of fish oil or placebo daily, with a washout period of 8 weeks between trials.

Our first patient was a 55 year old, white male who had smoked for 30+ years whose kidneys were significantly damaged. He dropped dead of a heart attack, while shoveling snow, 2 days after completing the study….
No one will ever know whether, or not, this might have been caused by plaque breaking away from an artery and causing the heart attack.

In any case, what was amazing was that his kidneys were completely ‘healed’ at the end of the study.
His nephrologist showed us the before and after scans of his kidneys- all signs of nephrotic syndrome were gone.
I will never forget the reaction of all the doctors in the room- stunned silence.

Unfortunately, this was the first & last patient we ever studied, as the MD leading the study moved.

I often wonder if fish oil has more benefits than we know.