Evidence map›Paper›PMID 16565093›Full record

SynthesisBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2006

Risks and benefits of omega 3 fats for mortality, cardiovascular disease, and cancer: systematic review.

Lee Hooper, Rachel L Thompson, Roger A Harrison, Carolyn D Summerbell, Andy R Ness, Helen J Moore, Helen V Worthington, Paul N Durrington, Julian P T Higgins, Nigel E Capps and 3 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 164 papers, 25 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
164citing papers in PubMed, 25 pooled it
60.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

164 citing papers in PubMed, 25 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 678 citations in OpenAlex.

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  11. Fish oil for kidney transplant recipients.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016
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  12. Polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation for drug-resistant epilepsy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016
    Pooled it
  13. The science of fatty acids and inflammation.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2015
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104 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors at 10 institutions in 1 country.

Lee HooperSchool of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ. l.hooper@uea.ac.uk
Rachel L Thompson
Roger A Harrison
Carolyn D Summerbell
Andy R Ness
Helen J Moore
Helen V Worthington
Paul N Durrington
Julian P T Higgins
Nigel E Capps
Rudolph A Riemersma
Shah B J Ebrahim
George Davey Smith
Teesside University · GBUniversity of Bristol · GBUniversity of Manchester · GBBolton NHS Foundation Trust · GBLondon School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · GBMRC Biostatistics Unit · GBShrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust · GBUniversity of East Anglia · GBUniversity of Edinburgh · GBUniversity of Southampton · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo review systematically the evidence for an effect of long chain and shorter chain omega 3 fatty acids on total mortality, cardiovascular events, and cancer. DATA SOURCES: Electronic databases searched to February 2002; authors contacted and bibliographies of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) checked to locate studies. REVIEW

methodsReview of RCTs of omega 3 intake for (3) 6 months in adults (with or without risk factors for cardiovascular disease) with data on a relevant outcome. Cohort studies that estimated omega 3 intake and related this to clinical outcome during at least 6 months were also included. Application of inclusion criteria, data extraction, and quality assessments were performed independently in duplicate.

resultsOf 15,159 titles and abstracts assessed, 48 RCTs (36,913 participants) and 41 cohort studies were analysed. The trial results were inconsistent. The pooled estimate showed no strong evidence of reduced risk of total mortality (relative risk 0.87, 95% confidence interval 0.73 to 1.03) or combined cardiovascular events (0.95, 0.82 to 1.12) in participants taking additional omega 3 fats. The few studies at low risk of bias were more consistent, but they showed no effect of omega 3 on total mortality (0.98, 0.70 to 1.36) or cardiovascular events (1.09, 0.87 to 1.37). When data from the subgroup of studies of long chain omega 3 fats were analysed separately, total mortality (0.86, 0.70 to 1.04; 138 events) and cardiovascular events (0.93, 0.79 to 1.11) were not clearly reduced. Neither RCTs nor cohort studies suggested increased risk of cancer with a higher intake of omega 3 (trials: 1.07, 0.88 to 1.30; cohort studies: 1.02, 0.87 to 1.19), but clinically important harm could not be excluded.

conclusionLong chain and shorter chain omega 3 fats do not have a clear effect on total mortality, combined cardiovascular events, or cancer.

Indexed as

Cardiovascular DiseasesCohort StudiesDietary SupplementsFatty Acids, Omega-3Fish OilsHumansNeoplasmsPrognosisRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicRisk FactorsFatty Acids, Omega-3Fish Oils

Identifiers

PMID16565093
PMCPMC1420708
OpenAlexW2123273468

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.