Friday Oct 10, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- Dietary supplements specifically omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) lower blood pressure in hypertensive patients who do not have diabetes mellitus, a study recently published in Indian Heart Journal suggests.

The study was intended to examine the effects of omega 3 PUFA dietary supplements on the blood pressure in patients who have high blood pressure and determine whether the effects of dietary supplements would vary by gender and status of diabetes mellitus in hypertensive patients.

For the study, 100 patients with high blood pressure, but did not have diabetes mellitus or high cholesterol who were being treated with anti-hypertensive medications at the Gulf Medical College Hospital, Ajman, UAE were randomly assigned to receive n-3 PUFA dietary supplements or placebo for three months.  Blood pressure was measured at baseline and the end of the intervention.

N-3 PUFA dietary supplements were found to statistically significantly reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressures after three months of n-3 PUFA supplementation.

The blood pressure lowering effect was found more significant in male patients.  Statistically significant reduction in blood pressure was found in non-diabetes patients and patients with long standing hypertension.

The study indicated that "omega-3 PUFA dietary supplements augment the benefits of pharmacotherapy in hypertension" in hypertensive patients who do not have diabetes mellitus. (David Liu)

Shantakumari N, Eldeeb RA, Mabrouk Ibrahim SA, Sreedharan J, Otoum S.  Effect of PUFA on patients with hypertension: A hospital based study.  Indian Heart J. 2014 Jul-Aug;66(4):408-14.