Fish Oil Supplement for Depressed: Omega 3 Fatty Acids Helps Cure Depression

A Study has proved that Omega 3 Fatty acid intake or fish oil supplement are really helpful in treating Depression.

Some patients in the study, but not all, got relief from the omega 3 fatty acids in the fish oil. The ones who did improve – about half the group – were those who didn’t also have a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder.

The other half – depressed people who had anxiety disorders, too – didn’t get any clear benefit from taking the supplements compared to placebo.

These findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, add to the confusion about whether omega-3 fatty acids really help depression. Different studies have reported conflicting results. At least some of the confusion is due to the fact that researchers rarely test these substances in any standard way. Some studies have looked at omega-3 as a stand-alone therapy; others have tested it in combination with antidepressants. The formulations often vary, too.

According to the researchers involved in the current study, some of the strongest evidence of benefit has come from supplements rich in EPA — which, along with DHA, is one of the two main forms of omega-3 fat. (EPA stands for eicosapentaenoic acid, and DHA stands for docosahexaenoic acid.)

So they tested a fish-oil capsule with a high ratio of EPA to DHA, providing 1,050 milligrams per day of the former and 150 mg per day of the latter. All 432 patients in the study had been diagnosed with at least moderate depression. About 40 percent were already on antidepressants.

Dr. Francois Lesperance, of the University of Montreal in Canada, who directed the current study, and his colleagues randomly assigned patients to take either the fish-oil capsules or a placebo containing vegetable oil every day for eight weeks.

Sources: Reuters