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Benefits on Central Nervous System
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- Human trial shows promise and benefit in people with epilepsy
- News - Fish oil helping folks with MS
Yuen A, Sander J, et al. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in patients with chronic epilepsy: A randomized trial. Epilepsy Behav, 2005; epub, ahead of print
Animal studies and a preliminary clinical observation suggest that nutritional supplementation with long chain omega-3 fatty acids (omega-3 FAs) may be useful in the nonpharmacological treatment of patients with epilepsy.
Omega-3 FAs increase seizure thresholds, and lower inflammatory mediators, which are increased in patients with epilepsy.
In this first randomized, placebo-controlled parallel group trial of omega-3 FA supplementation with 1g eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 0.7g docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) daily, 57 patients completed a 12-week double-blind phase.
Seizure frequency was reduced over the first 6 weeks of treatment in the supplement group, but this effect was not sustained.
The supplementation produced a significant increase in EPA and DHA concentrations and a reciprocal fall in arachidonic and linoleic acid concentrations.
No change in serum AED concentrations was detected. Further studies are required to examine different omega-3 FA preparations, different doses, longer treatment duration, and larger sample sizes.
PMID: 16006194
Fish oil can help depression in MS patients
By Jean Enersen / KING 5 News. Seattle, WA.
Patients with multiple sclerosis can suffer from serious depression. But Oregon researchers now think the best drug for these patients may not be a drug at all.
Simply putting on makeup can be difficult for Kendall Minter. She has multiple sclerosis - a disease that causes double vision, numbness in her hand - and also depression.
"I just get stuck in this cycle of doubt and just sadness, and I don't want to do anything about it," she said.
Minter's antidepressant doesn't work as well as she'd like, so everyday, as part of a clinical trial, she also takes six grams of fish oil.
Lynne Shinto, naturopathic researcher at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, says the fish oils, just with MS, look promising.
People with MS have high levels of inflammation in their blood, which could cause depression.
In a pilot study, Shinto gave fish oil to ms patients to see if it could decrease those levels.
"We gave them fish oils for three months, and we looked at the same marker three months later, and we see that the levels decrease," she said.
Their inflammation levels dropped by about 50 percent.
"Then, what we did is we took them off fish oil for three months, and we looked at the same marker," Shinto said. "We see that the levels go back up, which is what we expect if they're not taking the fish oil."
Now, Shinto and colleagues are conducting another study to find out if the fish oil reduces depression and other symptoms of MS.
Minter is excited about the new study.
"I thought it couldn't hurt, so you know, if it helps, then it's a bonus," she said, and she hopes it will also be a bonus for the up to 60 percent of MS patients who suffer depression.
If you take a fish oil supplement, you should look on the label to make sure it contains no mercury or other heavy metals. Shinto says there is some evidence that fish oil can help patients with depression who don't have MS, but more research needs to be done to confirm that.
