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MUNICH, Germany -- Fish oil supplements may work slightly better than a popular cholesterol-reducing drug to help patients with chronic heart failure, according to new research released Sunday.

Chronic heart failure is a condition that occurs when the heart becomes enlarged and cannot pump blood efficiently around the body...

The original article can be found at: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080831/heart_fish_080831/20080831?hub=Health&s_name=

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what we said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

Although adequate details of the study were included in the report (i.e. length of the trial, number of participants in test and control groups, outcomes measured), the data merging and cross-study comparison weakened the evidence for this study. The overall conclusions were drawn from a comparison of results from two different studies. This weakened research methodology resulted in a 'not-satisfactory' grade under the criteria of evidence.

Having said that, there were several strong aspects of this health related report. The article indicated that fish oil has "long been proven" to offer health benefits and thus provided the readers with information regarding the novelty (or rather the lack of novelty) for this product. Quantified benefits and treatment options were clearly described and there did not appear to be any elements of disease mongering.

The inclusion of additional information would help readers to make an informed decision regarding the use of fish oil to prevent heart failure. For example, a suggested dose, an outline of availability and cost information and a discussion of potential side effects would be useful information to provide to readers. Potential COIs were not directly discussed, however, it should be recognized that the article did provided some important details regarding the sources of its information and the context for the report.

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