Skip to main content

Fatty Acid Trip: Adventures in High-EPA Fish Oil - Blog Archive - Clinical trial boosts omega-3’s ADHD benefit claims

Fatty Acid Trip: Adventures in High-EPA Fish Oil Blog Archive Clinical trial boosts omega-3’s ADHD benefit claims

The new study from the University of South Australia recruited 132 kids with ADHD aged 7 to 12 for the randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind intervention study. One hundred and four children completed the trial.

For the first 15 weeks of study, the kids were given daily supplements of either polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6, 3000 milligrams per day), PUFAs plus multivitamins and minerals, or placebo capsules (palm oil).

After 15 weeks all the groups crossed-over to the PUFA plus multivitamins and minerals supplement.

The supplement was derived from high-EPA marine fish oil and virgin evening primrose oil (GLA). The formulation contained Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), Docosahexaenioc acid (DHA), GLA, and vitamin E.

Parents were asked to rate their child’s condition after 15 and 30 weeks with the 14 ADHD scales of the Conner’s Parent Rating Scales. After 15 weeks of eyeq supplements, improvements were recorded in half of these scales.
After 30 weeks (placebo group switching to eyeq supplements) the parental ratings of behaviour improved significantly in nine out of 14 scales.

No significant improvements were recorded in the Conners Teacher Ratings Scale, but the researchers state that parental ratings are considered more accurate for identifying ADHD in children than teachers.

“The present study is the largest PUFA trial to date with children falling in the clinical ADHD range on Conners Index. The result support those of other studies that have found improvements in developmental problems symptomatic of ADHD with PUFA supplementation,” wrote Sinn.

“These results have significant implications for children with ADHD-related symptoms, parents, and clinicians.”

Dr. Sinn said that many questions remain unanswered. “This work needs to be replicated in other scientifically controlled trials in populations of children with different constellations of symptoms and other developmental disorders that overlap with ADHD,” she told this website.

“We need more understanding about biological mechanisms, degree of relative PUFA deficiency and which children are most likely to respond, and also the relative importance of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, and the inclusion of omega-6 fatty acid GLA, in the supplement that has received successful outcomes in the UK and Adelaide trials.”

She added that a new trial would be starting this year to continue this work, with the taking of blood and urine samples to gain more understanding of fatty acid and biological metabolic profiles of responders versus non-responders, extending neuropsychological assessments to gain more understanding of cognitive and learning benefits, and comparing EPA with DHA.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Insulin Resistance- cause of ADD, diabetes, narcolepsy, etc etc

Insulin Resistance Insulin Resistance Have you been diagnosed with clinical depression? Heart disease? Type II, or adult, diabetes? Narcolepsy? Are you, or do you think you might be, an alcoholic? Do you gain weight around your middle in spite of faithfully dieting? Are you unable to lose weight? Does your child have ADHD? If you have any one of these symptoms, I wrote this article for you. Believe it or not, the same thing can cause all of the above symptoms. I am not a medical professional. I am not a nutritionist. The conclusions I have drawn from my own experience and observations are not rocket science. A diagnosis of clinical depression is as ordinary as the common cold today. Prescriptions for Prozac, Zoloft, Wellbutrin, etc., are written every day. Genuine clinical depression is a very serious condition caused by serotonin levels in the brain. I am not certain, however, that every diagnosis of depression is the real thing. My guess is that about 10 percent of the people taking ...

Could Narcolepsy be caused by gluten? :: Kitchen Table Hypothesis

Kitchen Table Hypothesis from www.zombieinstitute.net - Heidi's new site It's commonly known that a severe allergy to peanuts can cause death within minutes. What if there were an allergy that were delayed for hours and caused people to fall asleep instead? That is what I believe is happening in people with Narcolepsy. Celiac disease is an allergy to gliadin, a specific gluten protein found in grains such as wheat, barley and rye. In celiac disease the IgA antigliadin antibody is produced after ingestion of gluten. It attacks the gluten, but also mistakenly binds to and creates an immune reaction in the cells of the small intestine causing severe damage. There is another form of gluten intolerance, Dermatitis Herpetiformis, in which the IgA antigliadin bind to proteins in the skin, causing blisters, itching and pain. This can occur without any signs of intestinal damage. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity is a similar autoimmune reaction to gliadin, however it usually involves the...

Blue-blocking Glasses To Improve Sleep And ADHD Symptoms Developed

Blue-blocking Glasses To Improve Sleep And ADHD Symptoms Developed Scientists at John Carroll University, working in its Lighting Innovations Institute, have developed an affordable accessory that appears to reduce the symptoms of ADHD. Their discovery also has also been shown to improve sleep patterns among people who have difficulty falling asleep. The John Carroll researchers have created glasses designed to block blue light, therefore altering a person's circadian rhythm, which leads to improvement in ADHD symptoms and sleep disorders. […] How the Glasses Work The individual puts on the glasses a couple of hours ahead of bedtime, advancing the circadian rhythm. The special glasses block the blue rays that cause a delay in the start of the flow of melatonin, the sleep hormone. Normally, melatonin flow doesn't begin until after the individual goes into darkness. Studies indicate that promoting the earlier release of melatonin results in a marked decline of ADHD symptoms. Bett...