http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2002/04/25/eline/links/20020425elin027.html

High mercury level linked to heart disease risk

By Martha Kerr

NEW YORK, Apr 25 (Reuters Health) - Men with higher amounts of mercury in their body are more likely to develop heart disease than men with lower levels, according to the results of a Finnish study presented on Wednesday at the American Heart Association's Asia Pacific Scientific Forum in Honolulu, Hawaii.

While the source of the mercury isn't entirely clear, the researchers suspect that men with high levels consumed large amounts of mercury-contaminated fish.

Dr. Jukka T. Salonen, of the University of Kuopio in Finland, measured the mercury content in the hair of more than 2,000 men, aged 42 to 60 years, who had no evidence of heart disease at the start of the study. Men whose hair mercury content was in the top 25% had nearly twice the risk of developing heart disease as men with lower hair mercury content.

"This is comparable to the risk of smoking," Salonen told Reuters Health.

Salonen said that the high mercury levels were primarily the result of ingestion of lean fish with relatively low levels of substances known as omega-3 fatty acids--predatory fish such as Northern pike and wall-eye or perch pike that are found in the waters of eastern Finland. He also noted that shark and tuna also contain high levels of mercury, although most fatty fish, such as recommended by the American Heart Association, have relatively low levels of mercury.

Two US-based studies published just this month showed that those who consume fish several times a week actually have a lower risk of heart disease than those who rarely eat fish.

Although Salonen still recommends fatty fish in the diet, he believes mercury measurement in fish is needed as well.

"I recommend more routine monitoring of the mercury content in the body, blood and hair in pregnant women, who are at particularly high risk, and those with coronary heart disease," he said.

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