Project description:Cardiovascular diseases are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Europe. Lifestyle plays an important role in the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases, apart from pharmacotherapy and diagnostics. Numerous studies confirm that the type and quality of fat consumed in the diet have a huge impact on the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease can be helped by minimizing the proportion of saturated fatty acids in the diet and replacing them with polyunsaturated fatty acids. These acids and, above all, their long-chain forms have a positive effect on health. This study aims to assess the awareness of the properties of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases in the opinions of patients of the Cardiology Department of the Racibórz Medical Center. The analysis included 302 patients (113 women and 189 men) hospitalized in the Cardiology Department. The research method was the authors' questionnaire consisting of the patients' record and thirty closed questions. To answer the research questions posed and test the hypotheses, statistical analyses were carried out using the IBM SPSS Statistics version 25 package. Among the respondents, the least frequently used healthy eating habit was the infrequent eating of fried foods. A total of 18.2% of respondents had such a habit. The most commonly used healthy eating habit was checking the fat content in products, which was performed by 67.2% of respondents. Among the respondents, 58.3% said that butter and margarine increase serum cholesterol. The analysis of the data shows that the place of residence, education, sex, and reason for hospitalization of the respondents did not affect the frequency of healthy eating habits. In addition, the subjects had a low amount of healthy eating habits.
Project description:Patients with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular (CV) disease remain at increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events even during optimal lipid-lowering therapy. Recent studies using the methods of Mendelian randomization, as well as analyses of data from large statin trials, have concluded that elevated triglyceride (TG) levels contribute to that increased risk. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 PUFAs) from fish and shellfish (eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA] and docosahexaenoic acid [DHA]) reduce TG levels when added to the diet in sufficient amounts, and they have favorable effects on several other markers of CV risk. However, trials of omega-3 PUFAs have had inconsistent findings regarding CV risk reduction. Recently, the REDUCE-IT (Reduction of Cardiovascular Events with EPA-Intervention Trial) trial reported that treatment of such high-risk patients with icosapent ethyl, a purified and stabilized ethyl ester of EPA, reduced the risk of the trial's primary CV endpoint by 25% (95% confidence intervals [CI], 32%-17%; P < .001). To appreciate the clinical implications of this result, it is important to understand how the REDUCE-IT trial differed from previous trials, especially with regard to patient enrollment criteria and treatment dosing. We discuss these design features relative to other trials. TG lowering can account for only part of the risk reduction seen with icosapent ethyl; we also consider other potential contributory mechanisms.
Project description:Whether marine omega-3 fatty acid (n-3 FA) or vitamin D supplementation can prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) in general populations at usual risk for this outcome is unknown. A major goal of VITAL (Vitamin D and Omega-3 Trial) was to fill this knowledge gap. In this article, we review the results of VITAL, discuss relevant mechanistic studies regarding n-3 FAs, vitamin D, and vascular disease, and summarize recent meta-analyses of the randomized trial evidence on these agents. VITAL was a nationwide, randomized, placebo-controlled, 2×2 factorial trial of marine n-3 FAs (1 g/d) and vitamin D3 (2000 IU/d) in the primary prevention of CVD and cancer among 25 871 US men aged ≥50 and women aged ≥55 years, including 5106 blacks. Median treatment duration was 5.3 years. Supplemental n-3 FAs did not significantly reduce the primary cardiovascular end point of major CVD events (composite of myocardial infarction, stroke, and CVD mortality; hazard ratio [HR], 0.92 [95% CI, 0.80-1.06]) but were associated with significant reductions in total myocardial infarction (HR, 0.72 [95% CI, 0.59-0.90]), percutaneous coronary intervention (HR, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.63-0.95]), and fatal myocardial infarction (HR, 0.50 [95% CI, 0.26-0.97]) but not stroke or other cardiovascular end points. For major CVD events, a treatment benefit was seen in those with dietary fish intake below the cohort median of 1.5 servings/wk (HR, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.67-0.98]) but not in those above (P interaction=0.045). For myocardial infarction, the greatest risk reductions were in blacks (HR, 0.23 [95% CI, 0.11-0.47]; P interaction by race, 0.001). Vitamin D supplementation did not reduce major CVD events (HR, 0.97 [95% CI, 0.85-1.12]) or other cardiovascular end points. Updated meta-analyses that include VITAL and other recent trials document coronary risk reduction from supplemental marine n-3 FAs but no clear CVD risk reduction from supplemental vitamin D. Additional research is needed to determine which individuals may be most likely to derive net benefit from supplementation. Clinical Trial Registration: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01169259.
Project description:N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are thought to have protective effects against cardiovascular disease. Here, we report the relationship between serum PUFA concentrations and plaque composition, as evaluated by virtual histology-intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS). Consecutive patients (n=61) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were pre-operatively examined using VH-IVUS to assess the composition of culprit plaques. Gray-scale IVUS and VH-IVUS data of fibrous, fibro-fatty, necrotic core, and dense calcium regions of plaques were estimated at the minimal luminal area sites of culprit lesions. Serum levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and PUFAs, including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and arachidonic acid (AA), were compared between patients with (ACS, n=27) and without acute coronary syndrome (non-ACS, n=34) before PCI. Multiple logistic regression analysis of the data showed that EPA/AA under the median was more highly associated with ACS than hsCRP over the median. In addition, EPA/AA was negatively correlated with the percentage of fibrous plaque regions and EPA/AA and DHA/AA were positively correlated with the percentage of dense calcium regions in plaques. Furthermore, the correlation index of EPA/AA was the most highly (R=0.513) correlated with the percentage of dense calcium regions in plaques.
Project description:There is substantial evidence that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as n-3 and n-6 fatty acids (FAs) play an important role in prevention of atherosclerosis. In vitro and in vivo studies focusing on the interactions between monocytes and endothelial cells have explored the molecular effects of FAs on these interactions. Epidemiological surveys, followed by large, randomized, control trials have demonstrated a reduction in major cardiovascular events with supplementation of n-3 FAs in secondary prevention settings. The evidence of beneficial effects specific to patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) remains elusive, and is the focus of this review.
Project description:Twenty percent of deaths in the United States are secondary to cardiovascular diseases (CVD). In patients with hyperlipidemia and hypertriglyceridemia, studies have shown high atherosclerotic CVD (ASCVD) event rates despite the use of statins. Given the association of high triglyceride (TG) levels with elevated cholesterol and low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, the American Heart Association (AHA)/American College of Cardiology (ACC) cholesterol guidelines recommend using elevated TGs as a “risk-enhancing factor” for ASCVD and using omega 3 fatty acids (Ω3FAs) for patients with persistently elevated severe hypertriglyceridemia. Ω3FA, or fish oils (FOs), have been shown to reduce very high TG levels, hospitalizations, and CVD mortality in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We have published the largest meta-analysis to date demonstrating significant effects on several CVD outcomes, especially fatal myocardial infarctions (MIs) and total MIs. Despite the most intensive research on Ω3FAs on CVD, their benefits have been demonstrated to cluster across multiple systems and pathologies, including autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, chronic kidney disease, central nervous system diseases, and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. A review and summary of the controversies surrounding Ω3FAs, some of the latest evidence-based findings, and the current and most updated recommendations on Ω3FAs are presented in this paper.