A quarter century ago, a relationship was first proposed between fish consumption and cardiac mortality. This was based on 20 years of observational data indicating that coronary heart disease (CHD) deaths were 50% lower among Greenland Inuit Eskimos who ate at least 30 g of fish daily versus those who ate none.¹ Subsequently, a large body of evidence has linked fish consumption and reduced risk of CHD and CHD events (Slide 1).^2,3 Recently, reports have raised questions regarding the harmful effects of mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and dioxin and related compounds present in some fish species.^4-6 Do the benefits outweigh the potential carcinogenic and other risks associated with fish consumption?

Editor's Comment. This is another example of "research" of literature that can be found online. This is an excerpt from a review of the literature by an expert, in this case on omega-3 fatty acids and prevention of cardiovascular disease. This particular discussion is an excellent review of the topic accompanied by many charts, tables, recommendations, and a list of references. The conclusions in this article can assist cardiovascular rehabilitation professionals with understanding an important supplement that many of our patients use on a daily basis. Furthermore, the Web site, sponsored by the American College of Cardiology, contains a plethora of information about many topics and current issues in Cardiology. Some of these are discussions such as this is, while others are online video presentations, seminars, or even point-counterpoint debates on current issues. Users can subscribe to e-mail updates that provide a wide variety of these topics with direct links to each presentation and deliver those links to your e-mail box. This is another excellent way to maintain some contact with current topics and controversies that both interest and inform medical and health professionals.

JR