Omega 3 Intake and Cardiovascular Diseases in HD Patients

Research has found that a significant number of hemodialysis patients deal

with premature death and that this incidence primarily occurs due to cardiovascular disease related complications. 1 in 10 HD patients pass every year, and 40% of these individuals pass due to CVD related complications (Saglimbene et al., 2017). Despite this known phenomenon, little research has been done better determining CVD related interventions that can help reduce the risk of premature death in hemodialysis patients. Omega-3 is a PUFA that is known to have anti-inflammatory properties. It can be found in significant qualities in fatty fish, avocado, and other dietary sources.

This research specifically focuses on the use of Omega-3 supplementation to help reduce the risk and complications of CVDs. A multinational, prospective, cohort study was conducted to evaluate the association between nutrition and dietary patterns with major health outcomes in prevalent adult patients treated with hemodialysis. The study used death due to cardiovascular diseases as a primary outcome and death due to non-cardiovascular diseases as a secondary outcome. The patients were >18 years old, 58% male, 42% female, and lived in European countries.

The study found that patients in the Eastern European countries had the highest mortality rate and the lowest intake of omega-3s. The countries with the lowest mortality rate were Sweden, Germany, Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy. Portugal and Sweden also had the highest intake of omega-3s. The median weekly omega-3 intake for all the participants was only 1.3 g compared to a recommendation of 250-500 mg of omega-3's each day.

Overall, the study did not have strong enough evidence to correlate omega-3 intake and CVDs. Omega-3 intake was low in the study's participant population, and it only focused on dietary intake and failed to take supplementation in account. The study also did also not take into account other health disparities that may have led to the higher and lower mortality rates in some regions compared to others. More research needs to be conducted in the future to better pinpoint interventions that can reduce the risk of CVDs in hemodialysis patients.

Sources:

Saglimbene, V., Wong, G., Ruospo, M., Palmer, S., Campbell, K., Larsen, V., . . . Strippoli, G. (2017, December 06). Dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in adults on hemodialysis: The DIET-HD multinational cohort study. Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261561417314188