Re: Omega-3 fatty acids / children suffering from depression

On Wed, 16 Aug 2006 08:30:15 +0300, Juhana Harju wrote:

> ironjustice@aol.com wrote:
>: Juhana Harju wrote:
>:
>:: Nice posting. Please notice, Tom, that in practise you need fatty
>:: fish or
>:: fish oils capsules to provide the required amount of EPA and DHA.
>:: "Jesus-was-a-vegetarian" approach does not work.
>:
>: It is a matter of conversion which is a matter of contention ..
>:
>: <<snip>>
>: Alpha-linolenic acid is a plant-derived polyunsaturated fatty acid
>: (PUFA) with 18 carbon atoms in the chain. It can be converted to the
>: longer chain fatty acids, EPA and DHA (the PUFAs found in oily fish)
>: <<snip>>
>
> Please notice that there are clinical studies and clinical evidence of the
> benefit of direct EPA (and especially ethyl ester EPA aka E-EPA) on
> depression. But to my knowledge there are no trials neither clinical
> evidence showing that higher alpha-linolenic acid would help in depression.
> Quite high doses of EPA are needed for efficient treatment of depression and
> to my opinion it is unlikely that that high levels could be achieved by ALA
> supplementation.
>
> Am J Psychiatry. 2002 Mar;159(3):477-9. Links
> Addition of omega-3 fatty acid to maintenance medication treatment for
> recurrent unipolar depressive disorder.Nemets B, Stahl Z, Belmaker RH.
> Ministry of Health Mental Health Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben
> Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
>
> OBJECTIVE: Studies have reported that countries with high rates of fish oil
> consumption have low rates of depressive disorder.

That is a correlation. Is there a *relation* as well?
Or maybe it's the view/scent/iodine/who-knows? of the sea that makes them
"happier"?

I think depression rates are hard to compare. Japan and Taiwan for
instance (high fish, low depression), are completely different societies
than Germany or United States (low fish, high depression).

And, isn't the "eat fish -> be happy" link somewhat controversial?


"...not all studies support this. A New Zealand team studied 77 mildly
depressed people and randomly assigned them to add 8 grams a day of fish
oil or a placebo (olive oil) to standard antidepressant therapy. Mood
improved in both groups."

"A Finnish study that asked nearly 30,000 men to recall their fish oil
consumption over the years also found no link between omega-3 fatty acids
and depression or suicide, although studies based on recall are notoriously
inaccurate. And a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 35 people at
Baylor College of Medicine in Houston found no improvement in depression
when they gave patients only DHA, not EPA."

http://www.myhealthsense.com/F050308_omega3fa.html



> The authors studied a
> specific omega-3 fatty acid, the ethyl ester of eicosapentaenoic acid
> (E-EPA), as an adjunct to treatment for depressive episodes occurring in
> patients with recurrent unipolar depressive disorder who were receiving
> maintenance antidepressant therapy. METHOD: Twenty patients with a current
> diagnosis of major depressive disorder participated in a 4-week,
> parallel-group, double-blind addition of either placebo or E-EPA to ongoing
> antidepressant therapy. Seventeen of the patients were women, and three were
> men. RESULTS: Highly significant benefits of the addition of the omega-3
> fatty acid compared with placebo were found by week 3 of treatment.
> CONCLUSIONS: It is not possible to distinguish whether E-EPA augments
> antidepressant action in the manner of lithium or has independent
> antidepressant properties of its own. PMID: 11870016
>
> http://tinyurl.com/mmtm4
>
>: Different omega-3s offer varied heart benefits
>:
>: By staff reporter
>:
>: 14/08/2006 - Eating a diet rich in the omega-3 fatty acid,
>: alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), may positively affect 'bad' cholesterol
>: levels in the elderly, says a study from the Netherlands. [...]
>
> Yes, I saw this study yesterday.


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sci.med.nutrition,alt.support.depression,alt.suppo rt.depression.medication