Omega-3s May Help Smoker’s Heart Health

New research unveiled at the World Congress of Cardiology supports a potential cardioprotective effect of omega-3 fatty acids in smokers.

When researchers in Greece assigned smokers to 2 g/day of omega-3 fatty acids for four weeks, arterial stiffness and arterial wall properties improved.

“These findings suggest that omega-3 fatty acids inhibit the detrimental effects of smoking on arterial function, which is an independent prognostic marker of cardiovascular risk,” said Gerasimos Siasos, PhD, of the University of Athens Medical School, 1st Department of Cardiology, “Hippokration” Hospital. “The cardioprotective effects of omega-3 fatty acids appear to be due to a synergism between multiple, intricate mechanisms involving anti-inflammatory and anti-atherosclerotic effects.”