Heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids may prevent more sudden deaths than some defibrillators, according to a computer-modelling study.

People can raise their omega-3 fatty acids levels by eating salmon, mackerel and other fish or taking supplements.

Mammals cannot naturally produce omega-3 fatty acids and must get it from their diet. The fatty acids are thought to prevent blood platelets from clotting and sticking to artery walls, reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Researchers compared the prevention strategies for a computer-simulated community of 100,000 people.

Previous studies suggested both omega-3 fatty acids and defibrillators can prevent sudden cardiac deaths. Since it can be difficult to compare their effectiveness across a population, researchers turned to a computer model.

Prevention in healthy people

Raising omega-3 levels lowered overall death rates in the simulated population by 6.4 per cent, compared with 0.8 per cent for automated external defibrillators or AEDs and 3.3 per cent for implanted defibrillators, the researchers report in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

About three-quarters of the decline in deaths would come from raising omega-3 levels among healthy people, said study author Dr. Thomas Kottke, a cardiologist at the Heart Center Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minn.

"Despite the fact that AEDs do save lives, they are unlikely to ever have a substantial impact on rates of sudden death," Kottke said, since a whole chain of events needs to occur, such as speedy use of the device and survival in hospital. 

Automated external defibrillators have a high safety record when used by emergency personnel, said Dr. Mary Ann Peberdy of Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, noting more than 1,000 facilities and residences in Canada and the U.S. have the devices.

Kottke's team estimated that if the study population of 100,000 used omega-3 supplements daily, it would cost $5.8 million US a year, although the cost would be offset if more people substituted omega-3-rich fish for meat in their diets.

Putting an AED in every household for a similar population would cost $201 million US, compared with $195,000 US for equipping paramedics and firefighters with the devices, the team found.

The computer model used realistic data on patient health and treatment, including how well patients comply with their doctors' orders, the researchers said.