Fish Oil Slows Cell Aging

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Fish Oil Slows Cell Aging

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 9:07 AM

http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/health_stories/fish_oil_cell_aging/2010/01/20/30984\

6.html

A diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids helps keep the DNA of heart patients from

unraveling, which may help explain why fish oil is so beneficial after a

heart attack, U.S. researchers said Tuesday.

" Cardiologists have known for a long time now that omega-3 fish oil seems to

be beneficial for patients with coronary heart disease, " said Dr. Ramin

Farzaneh-Far of the University of California, San Francisco, whose study was

published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

" A number of studies over the last 20 years or so have shown that after

patients have had a heart attack, taking fish oil through diet or

supplements is able to reduce the risk of a subsequent heart attack or death

from coronary heart disease, " Farzaneh-Far said in a telephone interview.

What has not been clear is why fish oil is so beneficial.

" In this study, we decided to look at a new mechanism by which omega-3 fatty

acids might work, " Farzaneh-Far said.

The team focused on telomere length-the length of protective caps on the

ends of chromosomes that carry DNA.

Fraying or shortening of these protective caps can lead to premature aging

and cancer, a new understanding of aging that helped Blackburn and

the two other Americans win the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Farzaneh-Far and colleagues measured the length of telomeres in blood cells

in 608 heart attack patients to see if there was any association between the

levels of omega-3 fatty acids and the change in telomere length over time.

" We found a very clear association that increasing levels of the amount of

omega-3 fish oil in the blood was associated with a decrease in the rate of

biological aging, " Farzaneh-Far said.

Those with the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids had the longest

telomeres, while patients with low levels of the compounds had shorter

telomeres, he said.

None of the patients were given supplements and the team did not collect

dietary information, so it is not clear just how much fish oil it took to

have an effect. While fish oil is a primary source of omega-3 fatty acids,

they are also found in walnuts, flaxseed oil, and leafy green vegetables.

The findings offer a biological explanation for why fish oil helps heart

patients.

It may be that omega-3 fatty acids counteract oxidative stress-a

cell-damaging chemical reaction that can shorten telomeres, Farzaneh-Far

said.

Or it may be that fish oil increases the production of telomerase-an enzyme

that lengthens and repairs shortened telomeres.

" Both of those mechanisms have to be proven, " he said.

Farzaneh-Far said the team only studied the effects of fish oil and cellular

aging in heart patients, so it is not clear if the association would hold

true in healthy people.

" There is no reason to think that it wouldn't. But we haven't shown that, "

he said.