Observations placeholder
Linoleic acid and heart disease
Identifier
011996
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Convoluted langauge but Omega 6 fatty acids decrease the risk of cardiovascular heart disease
A description of the experience
Circulation. 2014 Aug 14. pii: CIRCULATIONAHA.114.011590. [Epub ahead of print] Circulating Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Total and Cause-Specific Mortality: The Cardiovascular Health Study. Wu JH1, Lemaitre RN2, King IB3, Song X4, Psaty BM5, Siscovick DS6, Mozaffarian D7.
BACKGROUND: -While omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids(n-6 PUFA) have been recommended to reduce CHD, controversy remains about benefits vs. harms, including concerns over theorized pro-inflammatory effects of n-6 PUFA. We investigated associations of circulating n-6 PUFA including linoleic acid(LA, the major dietary PUFA), γ-linolenic acid(GLA), dihomo-γ-linolenic acid(DGLA), and arachidonic acid(AA),with total and cause-specific mortality in the Cardiovascular Health Study, a community-based US cohort.
METHODS AND RESULTS: -Among 2,792 participants(age≥65y) free of CVD at baseline, plasma phospholipid n-6 PUFAwere measured at baseline using standardized methods. All-cause and cause-specific mortality, and total incident CHD and stroke, were assessed and adjudicated centrally. Associations of PUFA with risk were assessed by Cox regression. During 34,291 person-years of follow-up (1992-2010), 1,994 deaths occurred (678 cardiovascular deaths), with 427 fatal and 418 nonfatal CHD, and 154 fatal and 399 nonfatal strokes. In multivariable models, higher LA was associated with lower total mortality, with extreme-quintile HR=0.87 (P-trend=0.005). Lower death was largely attributable to CVD causes, especially nonarrhythmic CHD mortality (HR=0.51, 95%CI=0.32-0.82, P-trend=0.001). Circulating GLA, DGLA, and AA were not significantly associated with total or cause-specific mortality; e.g., for AA and CHD death, the extreme-quintile HR was 0.97 (95%CI=0.70-1.34, P-trend=0.87). Evaluated semi-parametrically, LA showed graded inverse associations with total mortality (P=0.005). There was little evidence that associations of n-6 PUFA with total mortality varied by age, sex, race, or plasma n-3 PUFA. Evaluating both n-6 and n-3 PUFA, lowest risk was evident with highest levels of both.
CONCLUSIONS: -High circulating LA, but not other n-6 PUFA, was inversely associated with total and CHD mortality in older adults.
PMID: 25124495