Fish oils on prescription

ROME — Every patient in the cardiac care unit at the San Filippo Neri Hospital who survives a heart attack goes home with a prescription for purified fish oil, or omega-3 fatty acids.

“It is clearly recommended in international guidelines,” said Dr. Massimo Santini, the hospital’s chief of cardiology, who added that it would be considered tantamount to malpractice in Italy to omit the drug.

In a large number of studies, prescription fish oil has been shown to improve survival after heart attacks and to reduce fatal heart rhythms. Yet patients in Britain and the US are not being prescribed purified fish oil, even though there is strong research supporting its beneficial properties.

Heart specialists have expressed concern over the UK and US's failure to prescribe fish oil to heart patients. They point out that that drugs are being recommended to patients instead of fish oil.


Note: no single food or supplement should ever be thought of a cure but rather as part of an overall healthy diet and lifestyle. For more health information see the Food For Thought web site.