Prozac of the Deep:
"In a study from Harvard Medical School, assistant professor of psychiatry Dr. Andrew Stoll and colleagues at McLean Hospital in Boston found that the omega-3s in salmon, mackerel, tuna, sardines, and other deep sea, cold-water fish may have a profound effect on mood. In the study (Archives of General Psychiatry, 5/99), 30 patients with manic depression--also called bipolar disorder--received either fish oil or olive oil (as a placebo) along with their standard medications, including lithium and Depakote. After four months, 65% of the fish oil recipients improved, compared with only 19% of the olive oil group. The results were so impressive that the researchers halted the study early so that those in the placebo group could begin taking fish oil if they wished.
No one knows exactly how omega-3s regulate mood. One theory is that they work like lithium and certain other standard drugs by dampening overactive nerve-to-nerve communication channels in the brain. 'We know that omega-3s have this effect in other parts of the body, so we assume that it happens in the brain as well,' says Dr. Stoll. 'The other theory is that we are simply replacing what's missing in the American diet,' he says. Indeed, research by Joseph Hibbeln at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism suggests that the increase in the number of people suffering from depression in the United States over the past few decades may be directly linked to the declining consumption of fish over the same time period.
'Omega-3s, which are lacking in diets in the U.S. and other developed countries, are very abundant fats in the brain and are essential for normal brain function,' says Dr. Stoll. 'It's likely that they are involved in a range of disorders in addition to manic depression, including major depression and schizophrenia.'"
"In a study from Harvard Medical School, assistant professor of psychiatry Dr. Andrew Stoll and colleagues at McLean Hospital in Boston found that the omega-3s in salmon, mackerel, tuna, sardines, and other deep sea, cold-water fish may have a profound effect on mood. In the study (Archives of General Psychiatry, 5/99), 30 patients with manic depression--also called bipolar disorder--received either fish oil or olive oil (as a placebo) along with their standard medications, including lithium and Depakote. After four months, 65% of the fish oil recipients improved, compared with only 19% of the olive oil group. The results were so impressive that the researchers halted the study early so that those in the placebo group could begin taking fish oil if they wished.
No one knows exactly how omega-3s regulate mood. One theory is that they work like lithium and certain other standard drugs by dampening overactive nerve-to-nerve communication channels in the brain. 'We know that omega-3s have this effect in other parts of the body, so we assume that it happens in the brain as well,' says Dr. Stoll. 'The other theory is that we are simply replacing what's missing in the American diet,' he says. Indeed, research by Joseph Hibbeln at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism suggests that the increase in the number of people suffering from depression in the United States over the past few decades may be directly linked to the declining consumption of fish over the same time period.
'Omega-3s, which are lacking in diets in the U.S. and other developed countries, are very abundant fats in the brain and are essential for normal brain function,' says Dr. Stoll. 'It's likely that they are involved in a range of disorders in addition to manic depression, including major depression and schizophrenia.'"
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