Omega-3 Fats Help Blood Clotting in Men and Women, Although Differently

by | Sep 8, 2010 | 2010, Cardiovascular Health, Circulatory Health, Omega - 3

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. This study of 15 men and 15 women demonstrated that EPA reduced blood clotting in men by 20.5% but not in women or placebo while DHA decreased blood clotting in women by 13.7% but not in men or placebo.

Platelets play a very important role in blood clotting and can prevent death in very severe injuries. However, over time, too much clotting can increase risks for heart attack (1) (nearly 1.3 million heart attacks each year (2) at a cost of nearly $152 billion (3)), stroke (4) (700,000 strokes each year (5) costing $63 billion each year (6)), and arterial and deep vein thrombosis (affecting more 2 million Americans and costing as much as $17,000 per hospital patient and $4,000 per non-hospital patient to treat (7)).

While current prescription drugs are effective at preventing unnecessary clotting by platelets, there can be resistance by the body to these treatments that can lead to repeat heart attacks and stroke (8). As a result, there is a need for non-prescription drug treatments to help maintain a healthy rate of blood clotting. Now a new study (9) has found that omega-3 fats may help with blood clotting in men.

In the study, 15 men and 15 women with an average age of 44 and a Body Mass Index (BMI) less than 35 kg/m2 were given a single dose of either a placebo, an EPA-rich fish oil (1000 mg EPA and 200 mg DHA) or a DHA-rich fish oil (1000 mg DHA and 200 mg EPA). The researchers obtained blood samples to measure blood clotting before supplementation and at 2, 5 and 24 hours after supplementation. After each 24 hour period, there was a 1 week “washout” period with no supplementation, after which the subjects went into another supplement group. Eventually, all of the subjects took either the placebo, the DHA-rich capsule, or the EPA-rich capsule.

The researchers found significant benefits of EPA in men, but not women. Specifically, men in the EPA group had decreases in blood clotting of 11%, 10.6%, 20.5% at 2, 5 and 24 hours after supplementation, respectively. When looking at DHA results, significant benefits were seen in women, but not men compared to placebo. Specifically, DHA reduced clotting by 13.7% at 24 hours compared to placebo.

When looking at an explanation for these results, the researchers pointed to the hormone level differences between men and women. Specifically, research has shown testosterone] (10) and estrogen (11) to have differing effects on receptors that are involved in blood clotting, leading to differing benefits of EPA and DHA. They went on to conclude, “For healthy individuals, males may benefit more from EPA supplementation while females are more responsive to DHA.”

Source: Phang, M., et al. “Gender-specific inhibition of platelet aggregation following omega-3 fatty acid supplementation.” Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases 22.2 (2012): 109-114.

© 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Posted September 8, 2010.

References:

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  2. Heart Attack and Angina Statistics” posted on the American Heart Association website.
  3. American Heart Association Update.  Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2007 Update.  Circulation. 2007;115:e69-e171.
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  10. Matsuda K, Ruff A, Morinelli TA , Mathur RS, Halushka P V. Testosterone increases thromboxane A2 receptor density and responsiveness in rat aortas and platelets. Am J Physiol 1994 Sep;267(3 Pt 2):H887e93.
  11. Caulin-Glaser T, Watson CA, Pardi R, Bender JR. Effects of 17beta-estradiol on cytokine-induced endothelial cell adhesion molecule expression. J Clin Invest 1996 Jul 1;98(1): 36e42.