Fish oils and manic-depressive illness

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Fish oils and manic-depressive illness JoAnn Guest Jun 21, 2005 17:23 PDT

 

 

 

 

 

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. Manic-depressive illness (bipolar disorder) is a

common, severe mental illness involving repeated episodes of depression,

mania (rapid mood changes, hyperactivity, and excessive cheerfulness) or

both. It is usually treated with drugs such as lithium carbonate or

valproate. Unfortunately, these drugs are not very effective and

recurrence rates are high.

 

It is generally believed that bipolar disorder involves an overactivity

in the neuronal signal pathways. Omega-3 fatty acids are known to dampen

this overactivity and the hypothesis has been advanced that they may be

useful in the treatment of bipolar disorder.

 

Medical scientists have now confirmed this in a landmark study just

completed at the Harvard Medical School. the double-blind,

placebo-controlled study involved 30 patients (men and women 18 to 65

years of age) who had all been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Half the patients were given seven fish oil capsules twice a day while

the placebo group were given seven olive oil capsules twice a day. Each

fish oil capsule contained 440 mg of eicosapentaenoic acid and 240 mg of

docosahexaenoic acid.

 

All of the participants except four in the fish oil group and four in

the placebo group also continued to received a standard moodstablizing

drug prescribed previously. The mental state of the participants was

measured using four scales (Clinical Global Impression Scale, Global

Assessment Scale, Young Mania Rating Scale, and the Hamilton Rating

Scale for Depression) at the start of the study and after two, four,

six, eighth, twelve and sixteen weeks.

 

Twelve of the 14 participants in the fish oil group completed the

four-month study without major episodes of mania or depression as

compared to only six out of 16 participants in the placebo group.

 

Also, while nine of the placebo group members experienced worsening

depression none of the fish oil group members did.

 

The four patients in the fish oil group who had not been prescribed

mood-stablizing drugs all completed the study without major episodes,

but only one member in the placebo group not on mood-stablizing drugs

did.

 

The average decline in depression rating on the Hamilton Scale was

almost 50 per cent in the fish oil group as compared to an increase of

25 per cent in the control group.

 

The Harvard researchers urge further trials of fish oils in the

treatment of depression and manic-depressive illness. Stoll, Andrew L.,

et al. Omega 3 fatty acids in bipolar disorder. Archives of General

Psychiatry, Vol. 56, May 1999, pp. 407-12 and pp. 451-16 (commentary)

Calabrese, Joseph R., et al. Fish oils and bipolar disorder. Archives of

General Psychiatry, Vol. 56, May 1999, pp. 413-14 (commentary)

 

Omega-3 fatty acids: the missing link?

 

Dr. Emanuel Severus of the Berlin University points out that major

depression is characterized by a deficiency of omega-3 fatty acids and

that these acids possess powerful antiarrhythmic properties.

 

He suggests that the missing link in the recently establishes

association between major depression and sudden cardiac death may be the

omega-3 fatty acid deficiency which characterized both conditions.

Severus, W. Emanuel, et al. Omega-3 fatty acids: the missing link.

Archives of General Psychiatry, Vol. 56, April 1999, pp. 380-81 (letter

to the editor)

 

Fish consumption and depression

 

ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND. Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, a researcher at the National

Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports in a letter to The

Lancet that he has found a convincing correlation between fish

consumption and the incidence of major depression.

 

Dr. Hibbeln correlated the annual incidence of major depression per 100

people in nine countries with the consumption of fish. He found a high

incidence of depression in countries with low fish consumption.

 

New Zealand with an annual fish consumption of only 40 lbs had an

annual incidence rate of depression of 5.8 per cent while Korea with a

fish consumption of more that 100 lbs/year had an annual incidence rate

of only 2.3 percent.

 

Japan with a fish consumption of almost d150 lbs/year had the lowest

incidence of major depression (0.12 per cent).

 

Dr. Hibbeln cautions that various economic, social, cultural and other

factors could have influenced his results, but points out that high

blood plasma concentrations of docosahexaenoic acid, and essential fatty

acid found in fish, has been linked to increased serotonin turnover and

lower incidences of depression and suicide.

 

Hibbeln, Joseph R. Fish consumption and major depression. The Lancet,

Vol. 351, April 18, 1998, pp. 1213 (correspondence)

 

Your brain needs DHA

 

NEW YORK, NY. Dr. Barbara Levine, Professor of Nutrition in Medicine at

Cornell University, sounds the alarm concerning a totally inadequate

intake of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) by most Americans.

 

DHA is the building block of human brain tissue and is particularly

abundant in the grey matter of the brain and the retina.

 

Low levels of DHA have recently been associated with depression, memory

loss, dementia, and visual problems. DHA is particularly important for

fetuses and infants; the DHA content of the infant's brain triples

during the first three months of life.

 

Optimal levels of DHA are therefore crucial for pregnant and lactating

mothers. Unfortunately, the average DHA content of breast milk in the

United States is the lowest in the world, most likely because American

eat comparatively little fish.

 

Making matters worse is the fact that the United Stated is the only

country in the world where infant formulas are not fortified with DHA.

This despite a 1995 recommendation by the World Health Organization that

all baby formulas should provide 40 mg od DHA per kilogram of infant

body weight.

 

Dr. Levine believes that postpartum depression, attention deficit

hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and low IQs are all inked to the dismally

low DHA intake common in the United State.

 

Dr. Levine also points out that low DHA levels have been linked to low

brain serotonin levels which again are connected to an increased

tendency to depression, suicide, and violence.

 

DHA is abundant in marine phytoplankton and cold-water fish and

nutritionists now recommend that people consume two to three servings of

fish every week to maintain DHA levels.

 

If this is not possible, Dr. Levine suggest supplementing with 100

mg/day of DHA.

 

Levine, Barbara S. Most frequently asked questions about DHA. Nutrition

Today, Vol. 32, November/December 1997, pp. 248-49

 

Docosahexaenoic acid fights depression

 

ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND. Researchers at the National Institute of Alcohol

Abuse and Alcoholism believe that the increasing rates of depression

seen in North America over the last 100 years are due to a significant

shift in the ratio of n-6 (arachidonic acid, linoleic acid) to n-3

(docosahexaenoic acid, linolenic acid) fatty acids in the diet.

 

The human race evolved on a diet having a ratio of about 1:1 of these

acids; it is now estimated to between 10:1 and 15:1.

 

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a main component of the synaptic membranes

and a lack of it has been linked to depression.

 

Fish oils are a rich source of DHA and it can also be biosynthesized in

the body from linolenic acid.

 

The researcher speculate that the depressions which often accompany

alcoholism, multiple sclerosis, and childbirth (postpartum depression)

are all due to a lack of DHA and can be corrected by increasing the

dietary intake of DHA or linolenic acid (flax seed oil). they also point

out that depression and coronary heart disease are strongly associated

and that a low intake of n-3 fatty acids has been linked to both.

 

Hibbeln, Joseph R. and Salem, Norman. Dietary polyunsaturated fatty

acids and depression: when cholesterol does not satisfy. American

Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 62, July 1995, po. 1-98

 

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