OMEGA 3 COULD HELP PREVENT PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS
Researchers from Austria, Switzerland and Australia have established that daily fish oil capsules containing long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) may help prevent psychotic disorders in high risk individuals. In a randomised, double-blinded trial, G. Paul Amminger, MD of Medical University of Vienna, and his colleagues gave 81 participants with a history of psychotic symptoms daily fish oil capsules providing 1.2 grams omega-3 fatty acids or a placebo for 12 weeks, followed by a 40 week monitoring period At the end of the study, 27.5 percent of the participants who received a placebo had progressed to a psychotic disorder, compared with 4.9 percent of those who received fish oil. Subjects who received fish oil also reported fewer symptoms and better functioning compared with the placebo. According to the authors; "The present trial strongly suggests that omega-3 PUFAs may offer a viable prevention and treatment strategy with minimal associated risk in young people at ultra-high risk of psychosis, which should be further explored." The study was published in the American Medical Association journal Archives of General Psychiatry.