SEPTEMBER 10, 2011 DO FISH OILS CAUSE BLEEDING?

"Whatever enters into your life is but the material expression of some belief in your own mind. The kind of body you have, the kind of home you have, the kind of work you do, the kind of people you meet, are all conditioned by and correspond to the mental concepts you are holding."

- Emmet Fox ( 1886-1951)

A dear patient gave me the book, "The Mental Equivalent" by Emmet Fox. Born in Ireland he is regarded as the New Thought spiritual leader of the early 20th century. He had a large influence on the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous with Bill Wilson. His 'Sermon on the Mount' has been read in AA. I read it for the first time 17 years ago when I entered a twelve step program. http://www.newthoughtlibrary.com/

The question is: Do omega 3 fatty acids cause bleeding? Omega 3 fatty acids offer a variety of benefits especially for the cardiovascular system. I have been using omega 3 fatty acids for more than 15 of my 17 years in clinical practice. Omega 3 fatty acids are found in the unsaturated fats of a variety of fish especially sardines. Studies have shown that EPA greater than DHA benefits the heart health where as DHA greater than EPA benefits the brain function .

For years I have cautioned patients using fish oils with conventional drugs like plavix, coumadin and aspirin. And now the new drug, Pradaxa. Finally a study using 4,000 participants was analyzed. There was no difference in bleeding potential in 317 patients of 610, using fish oils versus placebo. The problem with the study is the amount of oils used. Only 1.8 grams (1,800) of EPA and 1.5 grams (1,500 of DHA) was studied. I utilize more than the studied amount. I sometime use 4,000 mg (4 grams ) of EPA. This is now popular because the pharmaceutical companies have jumped on the band wagon by making a prescription fish oil called Lovasa.

The dose for lovasa is 2 grams twice a day = 4,000 mg.

Another study done indicated that using 6.9 grams did have an effect on bleeding times in patients using conventional blood thinners.

It is safe then to prescribe 1.8 - 5.4 grams per day as there was significant effect change in bleeding times.

The answer is: Take your omega 3 fatty acids. For vegetarians I recommend flax oil. The other question is does flax increase the good cholesterol particle size? We know that omega 3 fatty acids do increase the HDL particle size ( NL > 9.0)

Until tomorrow...