From atherosclerosis to heart failure: the cardiovascular impact of omega-3s

Aleix Sala-Vila, PhD is an associate scientist at the Fatty Acid Research Institute (FARI) and research fellow at Hospital del Mar Research Institute–cardiovascular risk and nutrition group, Barcelona, Spain.

In this interview, Sala-Vila explains findings he’s discovered from multiple studies he’s participated in relating to omega-3 levels and cardiovascular health, including atherosclerosis and heart failure.

For an in-depth examination of more of Sala-Vila’s research, read more on a longitudinal study linking omega-3 levels and risk of early-onset dementia.

Transcript

Erin McEvoy: Hello everyone. I'm Erin McEvoy, Associate Editor with Nutritional Outlook, and I'm joined today by Aleix Sala-Vila, associate scientist at the Fatty Acid Research Institute, for a discussion on his research on nutrition and health outcomes. Thank you for joining us today, Aleix.

Aleix Sala-Vila: Thanks to you. It's a pleasure to be here.

Erin McEvoy: From your research, how are omega-3 levels related to cardiovascular health in various life stages?

Sala-Vila: I have been working in the field for the last 20 years. Not all of them entirely are related to cardiovascular disease, but I think that I collaborated to some hits. The first hit was to unveil associations between omega-3 and atherosclerotic disease. This is not a cardiovascular event per se, but it's a hallmark of disease. It says that, some plaque is developing in your arteries, and maybe something is going to happen. So this was accomplished throughout the approach. First, I related omega-3 in the blood in patients at risk of having atherosclerosis because they had dyslipidemia and all this kind of pathologies. And I found that people with high levels of omega-3, from either marine or vegetable origin, showed lower pattern of atherosclerosis. This was interesting.

In addition, later on, I participated in the premier trial, and I was the leading author in the paper reporting that a Mediterranean diet supplemented with mixed nuts, participants allocated in this group showed you know fewer development of plaque over time. So this was the first one in relation to atherosclerosis.

The second one is in relation with people already having an event. So we found that once you have an event, meaning that, maybe omega-3 haven't prevented the event. But once you have the event, if you have high levels of EPA in your body, in your blood, meaning that you also have higher levels of EPA in your heart, your heart is, so to speak, prepared to face the fight. So the damage, some damage happens. But the higher levels of EPA in your blood, the lower effect, and your prognosis, your chances to survive, your chances to don't need to go to the hospital in the next three years are much lower. So, higher chances to survive, lower need of hospital during the three years.

And the third one relates to patients with heart failure. I'm not saying prevention of heart failure. I'm saying patients with a diagnosis of heart failure. So the higher levels of ALA, the omega-3 that comes from walnuts, from soy beans, from flax seed, whatever. So high levels of ALA in your body, lower risk of death, lower risk of hospitalization. Better prognosis, once again.