Scientists say that heart failure patients who had lower levels of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) had worse prognoses during their follow-ups than those who had higher levels.

Researchers from Barcelona, Spain, found that heart failure patients with lower levels of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, the primary plant omega-3) had a worse prognosis during follow-up compared to people with higher levels.

Their findings were published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids are good for you, but less is known about the link between ALA levels and the risk of heart failure.

“We hope,” adds the senior author Aleix Sala-Vila from Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute in Barcelona, “that these findings can pave the way for future trials to test whether regular consumption of foods rich in ALA could serve as a preventive strategy to improve outcomes and promote quality of life in heart failure patients with low circulating ALA.”

Between June 2006 and September 2020, the researchers collected data and blood samples from 905 ambulatory heart failure patients.

The researchers examined blood samples for ALA levels, which were calculated as a percentage of the total of 20 identified fatty acids.

After 2,4 years of follow-up, the researchers recorded 140 deaths from all causes, 85 cardiovascular deaths, and 141 initial hospitalizations for heart failure.

In people with greater blood serum levels of ALA, the researchers noticed statistically significant decreases in all-cause death, initial heart failure hospitalization, and cardiovascular death.

The results suggest that once heart failure has been diagnosed in a person, raising ALA levels may be associated with a better prognosis.

Additionally, plant-based diets may improve the prognosis for heart failure, and foods high in ALA, such as flaxseed oil, walnuts, chia seeds, and canola oil, may be used as a preventative measure to halt or postpone the progression of heart failure.

“The findings from the researchers are hypothesis generating,” adds Abdallah Al-Mohammad, a professor of cardiology at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom.

“Their proposal of a potential role for this source of nutrition in improving the morbidity and mortality rates of patients with heart failure cannot be substantiated yet.

“The road ahead is not predictable, as studies in the field varied between protective and neutral affects on incident heart failure. This study opens the field into more questions; the judge and jury for these cases shall be more prospective randomized controlled clinical trials.”

Source: 10.1016/j.jacc.2022.08.771

Image Credit: Getty

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