New heart health guidelines: Ditch the supplements

News from an American Heart Association conference over the weekend revealed a lot about what works and what does not for preventing heart attacks and other problems.

Over the counter fish oil and vitamin D supplements missed the mark, but a prescription-strength fish oil showed promise.

“Don’t waste your money on those supplements,” which are not well regulated and are of varying quality, said Dr. Deepak Bhatt of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Plus, you no longer have to fast before a blood test to check cholesterol. Don’t stop at the doughnut shop on your way to the clinic, but eating something before the test is OK for most folks, the guidelines say.

The recommendations are from the Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology and are endorsed by many other doctor groups.

When guidelines were last revised five years ago, they moved away from just using cholesterol numbers to determine who needs treatment and toward a formula that takes into ac- count age, high blood pressure and other factors.

That was confusing, so the new guidelines blend both approaches, setting targets based on the formula and considering individual circumstances.