Fish oil supplement plays significant role in prevention of heart disease - The Mercury Business: Pottstown, PA and The Tri County areas of Montgomery, Berks and Chester Counties (pottsmerc.com)

Fish oil supplement plays significant role in prevention of heart disease - The Mercury Business: Pottstown, PA and The Tri County areas of Montgomery, Berks and Chester Counties (pottsmerc.com)

BOYERTOWN — Besides treating patients at his Cholesterol Studies and Treatment practice in Boyertown, Dr. James D. Mickle Jr. developed and distributes CST20/50, a concentrated fish oil dietary supplement.

Since the late 1990s, omega 3 fatty acids have played a significant role in the prevention of heart disease. Danish researchers previously discovered inhabitants of northern Greenland seemed to be protected from vascular disease, according to Mickle.

"Certainly the (Greenland) population seemed a vulnerable set-up with its heavy smoking and poor access to heath care and medicine," the physician noted. However, the researchers recognized these people had easy access to the seas and they ate lots of cold-water fish — such as salmon, tuna and seal meat, all high in omega 3 fatty acids.

It's important to remember the body doesn't produce these substances. They must be taken in foods or as diet supplements.

Further research into the process of atherosclerosis showed triglycerides to be the culprit in cholesterol uptake in arteries. Increased triglycerides cause inflammation, clots, spasm and eventually blockage in the coronary arteries and heart attacks.

Mickle explained researchers and clinicians found when omega 3 fatty acids were prescribed for patients with high triglyceride levels, over 600-700 mg, the levels were reduced considerably, even in patients who had been unresponsive to other treatments.

"We were interested in seeing what would happen if we gave patients who had triglycerides in the 200-300 mg range, larger doses of the omega 3-fatty acids," he explained.

Unfortunately, to get the desired triglyceride levels required patients to take eight to 10 fish oil caps a day. This was not palatable to many patients. To remedy the problem, Mickle worked with a Nova Scotia company that was able to hyper-concentrate the fish oil with repeated distillations at very high temperatures.

Additionally, with an extra distillation, at an even higher temperature, more DHA, the most effective omega 3 fatty acid, could be produced.

As a result, one capsule of CST20/50 provides 1,000 mg of omega 3s in one capsule, compared to other products on the market that contain a lower dose in three daily capsules, according to the developer and distributor.

Mickle noted that in Italy, physicians who omit fish oils when treating cardiac patients may be cited for malpractice.