WHAT ABOUT TAKING A STATIN DRUG AND OMEGA 3 FOR HIGH CHOLESTEROL AND HIGH TRIGLYCERIDE SOME STUDIES SUGGEST FOR COMBINED DYSLIPIDEMIA

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Taking Omega 3 Fish Oil for the Heart AND a Statin cholesterol drug?

Statins are the most powerful drugs to treat high cholesterol. Omega 3 are chemicals found especially in fish oil seem to help the heart and lower triglycerides. People taking cholesterol lowering drugs called statins who also consume omega-3 fatty acids typically found in fish and fish oil might have a better chance of avoiding heart problems than patients who take statins for cholesterol alone. A report in 2006 called Combination Therapy with Statins and Omega-3 Fatty acids said "In a number of small studies, the combination of statins and omega-3 fatty acids has been consistently shown to be an effective, safe, and well-tolerated treatment for combined dyslipidemia".

Besides High Cholesterol You May Also Have High Triglyderides

What is combined dyslipidemia? A combined dyslipidemia means that more than one lipid, fat such as cholesterol and triglycerides is elevated. Statins are the most popular and powerful class of anticholesterol medications. The statins include drugs like Zocor and Lipitor and Mevacor.

Omega 3 and Length of Life

Read healty medical Blog about Cholesterol Good Bad and Ugly



A study by Japanese researchers published in the March 31 2005 issue of the medical journal, The Lancet said "Our study shows that long-term use of EPA (an omega-3 fatty acid) at therapeutic doses is effective for prevention of major coronary events in hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol) patients given statins in Japan who consume a large amount of fish," said lead researcher Dr. Mitsuhiro Yokoyama. He is a professor of medicine at the Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine.





In the study, called the Japan EPA Lipid Intervention Study, Yokoyama and his colleagues assigned 18,645 people to receive either 1,800 milligrams of one of the omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), every day plus a statin, or a statin alone.



During an average follow-up of 4.6 years, the researchers found a 19 percent reduction in major coronary events among patients taking EPA. Patients taking EPA also had 19 percent fewer non-fatal events including non-fatal heart attack, unstable angina, and coronary revascularization than people taking statins alone. However, the incidence of sudden cardiac death and death from heart disease did not differ between the groups.



"This study is further evidence of the benefit of omega-3 fatty acids for protecting against heart attacks and other cardiac events," said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, and author of an accompanying editorial in the journal".

Combination therapy with statins and omega-3 fatty acids.