Eating fish may reduce risk of sudden death

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health have been following the health of more than 22,000 male doctors since 1982. They examined fatty acids from fish in the blood of 94 of these men who died suddenly and compared the results with 184 living men matched for age and how much they smoked. Those with the highest levels of fatty acids from fish in their blood had an 81 percent lower risk of sudden death than those with the lowest levels. "Overall, the higher the amounts of omega-3 fatty acids climbed in blood samples, the greater sudden-death-risk was reduced," said Christine Albert, leader of the study. The results were reported in the April 11, 2002, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. Another study, conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health, followed 84,688 female nurses. "Our research suggests that women can reduce their risk of heart disease by more than 30 percent by eating fish two to four times a week," said Frank Hu, leader of the study and an associate professor of nutrition and cardiovascular disease. Hu's team reported their results in the April 2002 Journal of the American Medical Association.