High omega-3 index people less likely to die from COVID-19: Study

A recent study suggested that people who have a higher omega-3 index have a lower probability of dying due to COVID-19.Researchers with the Fatty Acid Research Institute (FARI) and collaborators at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and in Orange County, CA, published the first direct evidence that higher omega-3 blood levels may reduce the risk for death from COVID-19 infection.

The report was published in the journal 'Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids'.

There are several papers in the medical literature hypothesizing that omega-3 fatty acids should have beneficial effects in patients with COVID-19 infection, but up until now, there have been no published peer-reviewed studies supporting that hypothesis.

This study included a hundred patients admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 for whom admission blood samples had been stored.

Clinical outcomes for these patients were obtained and blood was analyzed for the Omega-3 Index (O3I, red blood cell membrane EPA+DHA levels) at OmegaQuant Analytics (Sioux Falls, SD).