Something To Feel Good About: Depression, Schizophrenia, And Omega 3 Supplements

We've come a long way since Freud. As recently as a few decades ago, mental disorders were thought to be a wholly psychological phenomenon. It wasn't until scientists made inroads into the physiology of the brain that pharmaceutical treatments finally became available. "Food for thought" turns out to be a very apt expression, especially when it comes to fish.

If you suffer from symptoms of anxiety disorders, depression, or schizophrenia, you will be interested to know that a new treatment approach might lie in those innocuous fish oil supplements, formerly of cardiovascular fame. It sounds like a marketing ploy, since how could a product that reduces the incidence of stroke possibly got anything to do with neurology?

But medicine works in mysterious ways. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin through slovenliness when his petri dishes got moldy; Albert Hoffman accidentally took in LSD through his fingertips. And so it is with psychiatric medication.

Omega 3 fatty acids come in two variety, EPA and DHA, both of which are necessary for the brain to function properly. The Western diet severely disrupts our normal uptake and metabolism of these vital substances, however, as it contains vastly higher levels of Omega 6. Fortunately, this imbalance can be addressed by food supplements, thus alleviating mood disorders and other neuropsychiatric issues.

According to a study published by the journal Biological Psychiatry, EPA may be a significant determinant of depression and suicidal behaviour. Researchers took blood samples from 100 patients who have a history of suicide attempts, and found out that this group had very low levels of EPA compared with those in a control group. Another study reviewed by the Schizophrenia Research journal was conducted under double-blind conditions, on 45 schizophrenia patients who exhibited symptoms despite being on stable anti-psychotic medication. The results were striking for those who were on an EPA supplement, and researchers are now campaigning for large-scale, placebo-controlled trials.

The acute reader might wonder why Omega 3 isn't a standard treatment by now if it shows such promising results. To put it bluntly, scientists are still far from achieving a consensus on the biochemical causes of schizophrenia. There is very probably an association between abnormal phospholipid metabolism and the disease, in any case. Phospholipid is a fat, or lipid, that serves an integral component of cell membranes; and yes, in case you are wondering, two-thirds of your brain is made up of fat. It will take a while before biologists can fully decipher the chain of causation, but statisticians have already produced a strong, positive relationship between national diets and mental health.

According to Christensen and Christensen, consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids from fish and vegetables, as opposed to chiefly saturated ones from poultry etc., can account for 97% of the cross-country difference in schizophrenic patients' outcomes. Now granted, we still haven't achieved a definitive causal link between the two, but which would you rather believe - that our diets affect our mental well-being, or that schizophrenia leads to an aversion to fish?

You decide. Meanwhile, call me crazy, but I'm sticking to my daily dose of Omega 3 supplement.

By: JohnReece

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