Lancet. 1989 Sep 30;2(8666):757-61.
Burr
ML, Fehily AM, Gilbert JF, Rogers S, Holliday RM, Sweetnam PM, Elwood PC,
Deadman NM.
MRC Epidemiology Unit, Cardiff.
A randomised controlled trial with a factorial design was done to examine the
effects of dietary intervention in the secondary prevention of myocardial infarction
(MI). 2033 men who had recovered from MI were allocated to receive or not to
receive advice on each of three dietary factors: a reduction in fat intake
and an increase in the ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fat, an increase
in fatty fish intake, and an increase in cereal fibre intake. The advice on
fat was not associated with any difference in mortality, perhaps because it
produced only a small reduction (3-4%) in serum cholesterol. The
subjects advised to eat fatty fish had a 29% reduction in 2 year all-cause
mortality compared with those not so advised. This effect, which was significant, was not altered
by adjusting for ten potential confounding factors. Subjects given fibre advice
had a slightly higher mortality than other subjects (not significant). The
2 year incidence of reinfarction plus death from ischaemic heart disease was
not significantly affected by any of the dietary regimens. A modest intake
of fatty fish (two or three portions per week) may reduce mortality in men
who have recovered from MI.
PMID: 2571009 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]