title: Prevention of sudden cardiac death by n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.
abstract: There were already several epidemiologic studies that showed eating fish frequently seemed to reduce deaths from coronary heart disease. There were also observational and clinical trials, which more specifically showed that the reduction in cardiovascular deaths from eating fish were largely the result of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in fish oil for the prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD). This led me to perform a clinical trial in which all subjects had an implanted cardioverter-defibrillator and were at very high risk of SCD. The results of this study and the mechanisms by which the n-3 fish oil fatty acids prevent fatal cardiac arrhythmias will be the subject of this review.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA. aleaf@partners.org
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leaf
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020746:Calcium Channels, L-Type / Q000502:physiology; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004285:Dogs; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000187:drug effects; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005395:Fish Oils / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological
chemical_list: D020746:Calcium Channels, L-Type; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D005395:Fish Oils