Whether you have only recently learned that you have a heart problem or you know someone with a heart condition, you’ll find information on here to keep you updated with developments in the treatment field, including medical research and health news. Our ongoing dialogue with our customers enables us to keep providing you with information and support. Look out for our quarterly newsletter (sign up on the left menu) and articles from leading experts in the field. You can find general health information in our Newsroom, in which you’ll find our news releases, articles and media cuttings archive. Good cardiovascular health enables you to enjoy daily activities, be able to engage in exercise, have better glucose tolerance and live longer. The heart can be thought of as a muscle. Like ordinary (skeletal) muscles, the heart muscle needs an adequate supply of energy and oxygen. The heart muscle must continue to beat from before birth to the time of death and so it requires a rich supply of blood. If this blood supply is inadequate, ischaemic heart disease can result. Currently, ischaemic heart disease is the most common cause of death in the Western world. For instance, over 700,000 people die of heart disease each year in the United States.

Common symptoms of ischaemic heart disease are angina, breathlessness, feeling faint, and increased sweating. In angina, there is usually central chest tightness/heaviness/pain which may be precipitated or made worse by exerting oneself, cold weather or being under emotional stress. It may become better upon resting. There may be pain in one arm (usually the left one) or both arms; there may also be pain in the neck, jaw or even the teeth. If this is the first time you have experienced these symptoms, you need urgent medical help. Heart attacks involve a loss of blood flow to the heart muscle for too long that can lead to death of part of the muscle and a ‘heart attack’. Unfortunately, this is a leading cause of death. Cholesterol-based plaques can gradually build up inside arteries and they only need to block less than half the diameter of the artery to rupture, causing the blood to clot. In turn, the blood clot cuts off the blood supplied by that artery.

The mainstay of current Western medical treatment of cardiovascular disease is medication and surgery. Angina may be treated with drugs such as aspirin, beta-blockers (like atenolol), nitrates (like GTN) and calcium blockers (such as amlodipine and diltiazem). High levels of cholesterol are conventionally treated with statins. Coronary angioplasty and by-pass surgery can be used to treat cardiac arterial blockage.

EPA supplementation, as part of a healthy lifestyle based on eating whole foods, fruit and vegetables and taking adequate regular exercise, has a number of beneficial actions in preventing heart disease and promoting cardiovascular health. EPA has powerful, and yet safe, anti-inflammatory actions which help prevent heart attacks. Also, EPA reduces the likelihood that the blood will clot when an arterial plaque ruptures. Again, this helps reduce the chances of a heart attack. In addition, EPA supplementation reduces the risk of deep-vein thromboses forming; these are clots that may form in the deep veins of the legs and that may give rise to pulmonary embolism. The recent large randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled JELIS trials in Japan have shown that daily supplementation with ethyl-EPA helps reduce the rate of heart attacks and thrombotic strokes. If someone has survived a heart attack, then the JELIS trials indicate that daily supplementation with ethyl-EPA will improve their chances of living longer. It is very helpful to balance the anti-inflammatory actions of EPA with the actions of omega-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids from evening primrose oil. If the evening primrose oil is organic, cold-pressed and virgin, then so much the better; such oil is rich in triterpenes, which have strong free radical scavenging properties. So, the synergistic combination of ethyl-EPA with organic, cold-pressed virgin evening primrose oil offers an excellent fatty acid intervention both to help prevent and to help treat cardiovascular disease.

Adults and children over twelve years should take 2 E-EPA 90 capsules daily for a period of three months. This initial ‘restore’ phase of the treatment programme should then be followed by a long-term ‘maintenance’ treatment of 2-4 Vegepa E-EPA 70 capsules daily. For those adults who suffer from cardiovascular disease (such as those who survive a heart attack), the dose of ethyl-EPA should be discussed with your doctor. (Please note: if you are taking cardiovascular medication, make sure you let your doctor know that you intend to take this supplementation. You might be on anticoagulant medication such as warfarin, and your doctor may need to reduce your anticoagulant dose as the benefits of EPA start to come through.) For vegetarians, we recommend our pro-EPA Echiomega Echium Seed Oil supplement.