If you are taking Omega-3 pills or relish two-three servings of Omega-3 rich fish a week, you can continue with those, without worrying about its potential prostate cancer risk that some previous research with preliminary findings have reported in the past.
The researchers at the Intermountain Healthcare Heart Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah, US who continue to research the potential benefits and risks of this popular fish oil supplement especially when it comes to prostate cancer risk and heart health have found no link between the two.
Viet T Le from Intermountain Healthcare Heart Institute said they undertook this study in light of findings from a 2013 paper from the journal of the National Cancer Institute that suggested a possible link between higher Omega-3 plasma levels and the development of prostate cancer, one that has been debated since publication. “If I’m recommending Omega-3 for my patients to save their hearts, I want to make sure I'm not putting them at risk for prostate cancer. Our study found no evidence of a link between the two,” Lee said.
“This study is important because we looked at how omega-3 helps patients who have already developed disease, and its effects on survival - both in getting to the first angiography to be diagnosed (vs. having a heart attack or worse before even knowing they have heart disease) and thereafter,” Le elaborated.
While a seeming association between higher plasma Omega-3 levels and the findings of severe heart disease upon initial angiogram might raise alarms that Omega-3 isn’t beneficial, “they did live to see a doctor and get diagnosed,” Le added.