some controversy

"Meta-analysis, particularly when neutral, should not be used to draw a conclusion," said Melvyn Rubenfire of the University of Michigan. Rubenfire said many of the studies included in this report did not have long enough follow-up, noting that heart and stroke prevention studies "are generally designed with five-year duration." Many patients studied here, he said, were followed for less than three years. Rubenfire added that he believes this information "should dampen the enthusiasm for routine costly supplement in healthy persons" -- but that he and many experts agreed that omega-3 supplements are still a good strategy for patient with high triglycerides. Some experts also note that the report is limited because the authors only included results from 20 of the thousands of studies on this topic, as many of these studies vary in terms of the types of patients and the doses of fish oil studied. "This inherently makes it hard to group them together for one analysis," said Dr. Merle Myerson, director of cardiovascular disease prevention at Continuum Health Partners. Myerson said she thinks that while government guideline committees will consider this study, they won't "change or challenge current recommendations."