High Fish Plus Fish Oil Intake is Associated with Slightly Reduced Risk of Venous Thromboembolism: The Tromsø Study

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of fish consumption and fish oil supplements on the risk of Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) for which there is currently scarce and diverging knowledge.

Study Design:

• Population-based cohort
• Data was collected over an average of 16 years, documenting 536 cases of VTE.
• Weekly intake of fish for dinner and intake of fish oil supplements during the previous year were registered in 23,621 persons aged 25–97 years who participated in the Tromsø Study from 1994 to 1995.
• Incident VTE events were registered throughout follow up (31 December 2010).
• Cox-regression models were used to calculate hazard regressions (HR) for VTE, adjusted for age, body mass index, sex, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, physical activity, and education level.

Results:

• Participants who ate fish ?3 times/week had 22% lower risk of VTE than those who consumed fish 1–1.9 times/week (multivariable HR: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.60, 1.01; P = 0.06).
• Participants who consumed fish ?3 times/week who additionally used fish oil supplements had 48% lower risk than those who consumed fish 1–1.9 times/week but did not use fish oil supplements (HR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.79; P = 0.002).

Conclusion:

• The addition of fish oil supplements strengthened the inverse association with risk of VTE, adding this to the list of omega-3 benefits for heart health (improvements in blood lipid levels, reduced tendency of thrombosis, blood pressure and heart rate improvements, and improved vascular function).
• Eating fish and taking fish oil supplementation was validated by an expected inverse relation to serum concentration of triglycerides and dose-dependent relation to serum concentration of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.
• In summary, a high weekly intake (?3 times/week) of fish was associated with a slightly reduced risk of VTE, and the addition of fish oil supplements strengthened the inverse effect.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24744307
Hansen-Krone I, et al. High Fish plus Fish Oil Intake Is Associated with Slightly Reduced Risk of Venous Thromboembolism: The Tromsø Study. J Nutr 2014 Jun;144(6):861–7.