Clinical and epidemiological study of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in Japan.

Between 1978 and 1980, we investigated and compared the dietary intake of fish meat, platelet function, rheological properties of blood and mortality rate due to thrombotic cardiovascular diseases between the residents of fishing and farming villages. Notable finding is that the dietary intake of EPA in the residents of fishing village was nearly 3 times (2.5 g/day) higher than that (0.9g/day) in the residents of farming village. Decreased platelet aggregability, prolonged bleeding time, increased red cell deformability and decreased whole blood viscosity together with a relatively low mortality rate due to ischemic heart disease were found in the residents of fishing village, in contrast to the residents of farming village in Chiba.