Can omega 3 help depression?
Can omega 3 help depression?[Top] Does omega 3 help depression? There is sufficient evidence to suggest it does help depression. European Neuropsychopharmacology published a study in 2004. The study was a placebo controlled, double blind trial lasting eight weeks, which compared omega 3 PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids) with a placebo with the usual treatment in twenty eight patients with clinical depression. A considerably decreased score on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression was shown in the omega 3 group compared to the placebo group. An eye opening study[Top] A study published in 1996 in the journal of the American Medical Association which compared the occurrence of depression across 10 nations showed very interesting results. The results showed how the annual and lifetime rates for depression contrasted widely in every country e.g. nineteen in every hundred adults experienced depression in their lifetimes compared to only one in every hundred adults in Taiwan. The Lancet published a study in 1998 that compared that data to consumption of fish. It discovered that the higher fish consuming nations experienced less depression. Omega 3 study shows outstanding results[Top] In 1999 Andrew Stoll MD and his colleagues conducted a study on thirty bipolar disorder patients who had some history of relapses but were mostly in a stable condition. Eight of the patients were on medication this was left unchanged. Half of the patients were given olive oil and the other half received 9.6 grams of fish oil. Due to the outstanding results the whole study was stopped in four months when it was supposed to last nine months the omega 3 group had much less episodes of depression and mania compared to the olive oil group. NIH study[Top] A study conducted by the NIH (national institute of health) tracked 14,541 women from week eight to the eighth month after they gave birth showed those who ate no omega 3 seafood had almost twice the depression rate of those who consumed ten ounces of fish every day Return to natural healing home page Return to 6 essential nutrients
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