Fish oil may increase your risk of stroke and heart problems like atrial fibrillation, a new study finds.
The study, published Tuesday in BMJ Medicine magazine, followed more than 400,000 people in the UK aged 40 to 69 for 12 years. These people used fish oil supplements regularly.
Fish oil supplements are a source of omega-3 fatty acids and are widely known to help treat cardiovascular disease.
Research has found that fish oil supplements may increase risks for those who do not already have heart problems, but for those who already have cardiovascular problems, the supplement may reduce risks.
The study found that regular use of fish oil supplements was associated with a 13% higher risk of developing atrial fibrillation and a 5% higher risk of having a stroke if the person had no known heart problems.
For patients with known heart disease, fish oil supplements were associated with a 15% lower risk of atrial fibrillation.
The authors noted that more studies are needed to determine the development and prognosis of heart disease events and how they work with fish oil supplements, because the benefits and risks were not observed uniformly throughout the study.
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