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Long-Awaited Study Results on Vitamin D and Fish Oil Supplements

npr.org

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Re: Long-Awaited Study Results on Vitamin D and Fish Oil Supplements

#101

Post by dagoat »

It’s been known for a while that supplemental omega 3s are probably best avoided until there’s more data out there.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/fish-oil-friend-or-foe-2...

Vitamin C, E, and many other supplements have similarly questionable benefits with possible harsh side effects.

I wouldn’t reach for almost any supplement unless a doctor + blood tests + my own research suggested I should. And even then I believe diet and lifestyle modifications could be attempted beforehand.

Re: Long-Awaited Study Results on Vitamin D and Fish Oil Supplements

#102

Post by nitins »

jryan49 wrote: post #43

So wait, what is disappointing about this: "Taking fish oil lowered the risk of heart attack by about 28 percent, which is a "statistically significant" finding, says Dr. JoAnn Manson, who is chief of the division of preventive medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. She led the research." and "African-Americans in the study experienced a 77 percent lower risk of heart attack when compared to placebo,…

Yes, I don't understand why this is disappointing. The article also says there are no side effects. Even if there is 10% decrease, isn't it good?

Re: Long-Awaited Study Results on Vitamin D and Fish Oil Supplements

#103

Post by copperx »

dmix wrote: post #67
jryan49 wrote: post #43

So wait, what is disappointing about this: "Taking fish oil lowered the risk of heart attack by about 28 percent, which is a "statistically significant" finding, says Dr. JoAnn Manson, who is chief of the division of preventive medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. She led the research." and "African-Americans in the study experienced a 77 percent lower risk of heart attack when compared to placebo,…

The fact fish oil and vitamin d have been touted for couple decades as helping prevent cancer? I remember both my parents taking both regularly growing up in the 90s and they both separately mentioned cancer prevention as the big reasons.

Wasn't fish oil recently linked to advanced prostate cancer? (people with prostate cancer had elevated DHA in a big study -- whether that's caused by fish oil consumption is unknown, but still something to consider.)

Re: Long-Awaited Study Results on Vitamin D and Fish Oil Supplements

#104

Post by koboll »

dmix wrote: post #67
jryan49 wrote: post #43

So wait, what is disappointing about this: "Taking fish oil lowered the risk of heart attack by about 28 percent, which is a "statistically significant" finding, says Dr. JoAnn Manson, who is chief of the division of preventive medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. She led the research." and "African-Americans in the study experienced a 77 percent lower risk of heart attack when compared to placebo,…

The fact fish oil and vitamin d have been touted for couple decades as helping prevent cancer? I remember both my parents taking both regularly growing up in the 90s and they both separately mentioned cancer prevention as the big reasons.

"Touted" based on what? There isn't much good evidence linking fish oil to cancer.

https://examine.com/supplements/fish-oil/

But there's very good evidence that shows fish oil has benefits for triglycerides and cholesterol, which is consistent with the results of this study re: heart attacks.

Re: Long-Awaited Study Results on Vitamin D and Fish Oil Supplements

#105

Post by r00fus »

dawhizkid wrote: post #9

Why do we keep looking for some magic pill and ignore diet and exercise, especially when we talk about cancer and cardiovascular disease? Expecting a pill to counteract a sedentary lifestyle and a diet high in sugar and carbs is lunacy.

False dichotomy. There are plenty of us who are doing plenty of exercise, who have adjusted our diets to remove cardiovascular risks, and yet are suffering from being dealt poor hands at genetic poker.

Us folk need all the help we can get.

Re: Long-Awaited Study Results on Vitamin D and Fish Oil Supplements

#106

Post by copperx »

dagoat wrote: post #101

It’s been known for a while that supplemental omega 3s are probably best avoided until there’s more data out there. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/fish-oil-friend-or-foe-2... Vitamin C, E, and many other supplements have similarly questionable benefits with possible harsh side effects. I wouldn’t reach for almost any supplement unless a doctor + blood tests + my own research suggested I should. And even then I b…

Just to highlight one of the points in the linked page: There was a recent study that correlated high levels of serum DHA with aggressive prostate cancer. It is not known whether the elevation in DHA from the subjects was due to fish oil supplementation or some other biochemical process.

Everything has side effects.

Re: Long-Awaited Study Results on Vitamin D and Fish Oil Supplements

#107

Post by koboll »

mirekrusin wrote: post #61

Why came up with this title? ""We are reporting a remarkable degree of risk reduction," says Dr. Deepak Bhatt, who headed the study and is a cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital." "Taking fish oil lowered the risk of heart attack by about 28 percent, which is a "statistically significant" finding". "African-Americans in the study experienced a 77 percent lower risk of heart attack when compared to placebo, wh…

Yeah, it's very stupid. "Fish oil slashes heart attack risk by a huge percentage--but it's not a Wonder Drug that cures all ailments. Disappointing!"

Re: Long-Awaited Study Results on Vitamin D and Fish Oil Supplements

#108

Post by koboll »

"Fine and Manson stressed that vitamin D and the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil are important nutrients, but the best way to get them is as part of a well-balanced diet. That includes eating fatty fish like sardines, tuna and salmon, and vitamin-D fortified cereals, milk, and orange juice."

Ah, okay. So instead of taking supplemental Vitamin D, you should get it from natural sources, such as..... foods that have been artificially fortified with supplemental Vitamin D.

Re: Long-Awaited Study Results on Vitamin D and Fish Oil Supplements

#109

Post by koboll »

dmix wrote: post #79
devonEnlis wrote: post #57

Study linked was not the biggest cardiovascular health news of today-- This was: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1812792 A single purified component of fish oil - EPA, did lead to a 25% relative risk reduction on top of statin treatment. This is a huge result with off the charts p values.

Importantly the results were only positive for those: > Among patients with elevated triglyceride levels Much like low dose aspirin its possible this is a bad idea for the average person unless you are already showing signs of heart disease.

https://examine.com/supplements/fish-oil/#hem-triglycerides

The effect is stronger in individuals with elevated triglyceride levels, but it seems to lower triglycerides in those with more normal levels as well.

Re: Long-Awaited Study Results on Vitamin D and Fish Oil Supplements

#110

Post by koboll »

dang wrote: post #74
resters wrote: post #11

This headline is quite misleading (and arguably very biased toward white readers). It describes a marked improvement in outcomes for African American study participants. So perhaps NPR views this as "disappointing" but the headline suggests broadly that everyone should stop taking those supplements, when in fact the results are far more nuanced. HN's absurd title policy is using a clickbait (and misleading) title cho…

HN's policy is just the opposite. It would be good to know what the guidelines are before calling them absurd! " Please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait ." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

This is absolutely a clickbait title.

A better one would be something like "Landmark Study On Fish Oil and Vitamin D Shows Fish Oil Reduces Heart Attacks, But Few Other Benefits"

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