Telomeres are the endcaps on chromosomes, and the number of times that telomeres divide during cellular replication has been linked to cellular aging and death.  Ramin Farzaneh-Far, from the University of California San Francisco (USA), and colleagues studied a group of 608 patients with stable coronary artery disease for a six-year period, measuring leukocyte telomere length at the study’s start and at the five-year mark. The team then modeled the association of omega-3 fatty acids (docosahexaenoic acid [DHA] and eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA]) with subsequent change in telomere length.  The researchers found that those subjects in the lowest quartile of DHA+EPA experienced the fastest rate of telomere shortening, whereas those in the highest quartile experienced the slowest rate of telomere shortening.  Further, each unit increase in DHA/EPA levels was associated with a 32% reduction in the odds of telomere shortening   Speculating that omega-3s may protect against oxidative stress, or increase the activity of the telomerase enzyme, which may then  decrease telomere shortening by creating more accurate telomere copies, the researchers conclude that: “ Among this cohort of patients with coronary artery disease, there was an inverse relationship between baseline blood levels of marine omega-3 fatty acids and the rate of telomere shortening over 5 years.”