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Trial, not randomized · measured the question itself

Trial analysis in 8,179 adults by smoking history: icosapent ethyl lowered heart events

Miller and colleagues · European heart journal. Cardiovascular pharmacotherapy · 2023

Original title: Potential effects of icosapent ethyl on cardiovascular outcomes in cigarette smokers: REDUCE-IT smoking.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

Points to benefit

In current and former smokers (n = 4913), main heart events were lower (hazard ratio: 0.77 [95% CI: 0.68-0.87]). Benefit was also seen in non-smokers.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Trial, not randomized
Who or what was studied
8,179 people · adults on statins with high triglycerides and high heart risk, split by smoking history
What was tested
Icosapent ethyl versus placebo (dose not given in the abstract), by current, former and never smokers, median 4.9 years
What it measured
The question itself: heart attacks, strokes and heart deaths
How long
255 weeks
Trial registration
NCT01492361
Who has a stake
Company stake
Grants listed include Amarin Pharma, which sells icosapent ethyl.
Journal
European heart journal. Cardiovascular pharmacotherapy, 2023
Source
PubMed record 35953437. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • –Not randomized: the groups may differ in ways that affect the result.
  • ✓Compared with a placebo, a dummy treatment.
  • ✓Large: 8,179 people.
  • ✓Long: about 4.9 years.
  • ✓Measured the question itself: heart attacks, strokes and heart deaths.
  • –Company stake: Grants listed include Amarin Pharma, which sells icosapent ethyl.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

Each dot is one on-topic paper on this question. Steps near the top answer the question more directly.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: heart attacks, strokes and heart deaths

    11

    7 benefit, 4 no difference

    ↑ This study is the ringed dot

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    3

    1 benefit, 2 no difference

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  4. Population studies

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does fish oil prevent heart disease?”

Little or no effect in most trials.

Confidence: moderate. Based on 21 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Of the other 10 papers on the same step: 6 benefit, 4 no difference. This one found benefit. It agrees with most of them.

Other papers on the same step

See all 21 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The reviewer corrected 3 fields after reading the abstract. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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