In coronary heart disease (CHD) patients, higher levels of the
omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA in the blood are associated with
survival.1,2 Since patients with higher circulating omega-3s
seemed to live longer, scientists wondered whether these
patients were actually aging more slowly. They were able to
indirectly measure rate of aging by measuring the telomere
shortening rate in the patients’ white blood cells. Telomeres
are regions of DNA at the ends of linear chromosomes – since
telomeres are shortened during each cell division as DNA is
replicated, telomere shortening is an indicator of aging at the
DNA level. Faster telomere shortening means faster aging. Blood
levels of EPA and DHA and white blood cell telomere length were
measured in CHD patients at baseline and again after 5 years.
The patients who had the lowest omega-3 levels had the fastest
rates of telomere shortening, and those with the highest omega-3
levels had the slowest rates of telomere shortening. Omega-3s
were in fact able to slow aging