Omega-3 Fats for help with ADHD

[Ursus]

Omega-3 Fats And ADHD

By Cheryl Sternman Rule, EatingWell.com

When he was younger, 16-year-old Bennett Jackson of Colorado Springs struggled in school. "He was easily distracted," says his mother, Suzanne. "He'd see a leaf fall outside and want to go chase it." At 7, Bennett was diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)--characterized by an inability to concentrate, impulsivity and increased motor activity. His doctor started him on a stimulant drug, which vastly improved his symptoms. Later Bennett learned he had a cardiovascular condition that rendered his use of the drugs risky.

Four million Americans find relief from ADHD in stimulants, such as Ritalin and Concerta, which boost neurotransmitters involved in mental focus. But recently, concern over cardiovascular risks prompted a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel to vote in favor of labeling such stimulants with prominent warnings. Not all experts agree with the decision. "Used appropriately, these medications are no more harmful than caffeine--unless you have an underlying cardiovascular problem," says Edward Hallowell, M.D., a psychiatrist in Sudbury, Massachusetts. "And it's not clear that the number of cardiovascular deaths linked with stimulants is greater than what would occur randomly in the general population. I wouldn't tell my patients to stop taking them."

Promise from the sea

Still, for people with ADHD who can't (or choose not to) use stimulants, fish oil may offer new hope. "Anecdotally, fish oil, which is very safe, has helped those with ADHD," says Hallowell, who recommends fish-oil supplements to all his patients.

Small studies uphold the hypothesis. In a randomized, controlled trial, Alex Richardson, Ph.D., a senior research fellow at Oxford, found that fatty-acid supplementation (800 mg per day) for three months significantly improved reading, spelling and behavior in children with attention disorders. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center reported a correlation between higher blood levels of omega-3 fats and fewer impulsive behaviors.

Larger trials are under way--but some don't need controlled studies to believe in the benefits. "No magic pill will get rid of my son's attention deficit," says Suzanne Jackson. "But fish oils have made a noticeable difference in his ability to focus."

--Cheryl Sternman Rule

Bottom Line:

The science is new, but experts say a daily fish-oil supplement may improve mental focus and probably will provide cardiovascular benefits.

[Truth Searcher]

"He was easily distracted," says his mother, Suzanne. "He'd see a leaf fall outside and want to go chase it." At 7, Bennett was diagnosed (ADHD)--characterized by an inability to concentrate, impulsivity and increased motor activity.

Doesn't this characterize just about every normal 7 year old child?  Put that kid outside and let him run, jump and play for extended periods of time.  A much less intrusive therapy for crying out loud.

[Ursus]

You call fish oil "intrusive therapy?"

[Truth Searcher]

LOL.  

No, by no means .... I was referring to drug stimulants.  
 

[Anonymous]

Big surprise, anecdotal evidence only. I've made the mistake of going to 'alternative doctors' only to be ripped off for 200 dollars and told to 'eat some omega fish pills'. This all reminds me of the herbal fad back in the 90's. ADHD is another name for neurotic child, caused by the attempted domestication of the young male. Expecting young boys to sit still in class all day like good girls and then wondering why they have too much energy is so ridiculous.

[Ursus]

LOL.  

No, by no means .... I was referring to drug stimulants.  
 

I agree with you re. the stimulants.  Article didn't really address caffeine, but if you have to go that route, coffee is a hell of a lot easier on the system than speed!  LOL!!!

[Ursus]

Big surprise, anecdotal evidence only. I've made the mistake of going to 'alternative doctors' only to be ripped off for 200 dollars and told to 'eat some omega fish pills'. This all reminds me of the herbal fad back in the 90's. ADHD is another name for neurotic child, caused by the attempted domestication of the young male. Expecting young boys to sit still in class all day like good girls and then wondering why they have too much energy is so ridiculous.

I have noticed that most of the "boys will be boys" crowd generally do not have ADHD kids, let alone ADHD girls.  I agree that there are some cultural expectations that interfere with a high energy kid growing up normally, but there are also extremes that no one can explain away as plain old "neurotic child."

Consider this:  the ratio of omega-3, omega-6, and omega-9 fatty acids affect your brain's physiology and functioning.  Do you honestly believe that we are consuming these today in the amount, let alone the proportion, that we have been doing for 1000's of years of human evolution?

[Anonymous]

I am not so much part of the "boys will be boys crowd" as much as I am part of the "don't feed your kid cocaine for no reason crowd". Having experienced it, I know it's a system designed witha purpose in mind, but that is w hole other conversation.

I know my diet today is 100 times healthier and better than my ancestors starting from two generations all the way back past 1000 years. While they were starving on rotten potatoes and scrap meat, and can go buy organic lettuce and produce from south america. I can pretty  much buy anything I want. I could eat Salmon for every meal of the day if I wanted to. Now, as far as the science of the brain, fish pills, as indicated in the article, are an anecdotally based treatment. Show me some real scientific studies and I'll take a look. I have this argument with my g/f all the time. She will try any new food/diet/health fad as long as people are talking about it. Right now it's fish pills. Ten years ago is was Ginko Biloba.

[Ursus]

I have to tell you that I am interested in this issue for a variety of reasons:  A.)  I have a youngster that exhibits many features of ADHD (too young to be diagnosed as such yet), and B.) in my youth and younger adult years I exhibited many of said symptoms to an even extremer degree than my child does (in my time it was rather haphazard whether they'd try to diagnose a child as such, and didn't in my case).

I also took part (as a guinea pig) in a major study investigating the effects of Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA), the type of Omega-3 thought to be most potent in affecting brain chemistry, on major depression, with which I had been diagnosed.  The study lasted 16 weeks, and I had to go in every two weeks and have my thoughts, feelings, etc. analyzed by a psychiatrist for 30 minutes (they had a set of questions that I had to answer covering many areas of my life).  The dosage was 1000 mg EPA/day.  Although I felt noticeably "better" after about a week, the effect was most dramatic by about the 8th week, with improvements continuing thereafter albeit on a less steep curve.  I would characterize the questionaire as "crudely accurate," that is, although you could probably pick holes in it here or there, the sheer scope of it generally eliminated any significant margin of error.

The fish oil did not "solve" my depression.  I am still depressed, but it seems more "livable" somehow.  I am not taking any other medications.  I would rather resort to something as benign as fish oil in tweaking the system towards more manageable levels if I can get away with it, than override it with something that might seem to solve my "problem" better but at great cost elsewhere.  Everybody's system and circumstances are a bit different, of course.  And what works for one person may not work for another.

I have also read that EPA can improve the symptoms of bi-polar disorder.  Again, the keyword here is "improve," not "solve."  People have reported being able to significantly reduce (but not eliminate) their dosage of the high-voltage system over-riders when taken in conjunction with EPA Omega-3.  That, to me, would still seem like a very good thing.

All in all, the fish oil seems to have a "normalizing" effect, not curing.  I will try to hunt down some scientific articles with hard data later, if you're still interested (don't have time at the moment).  I didn't bother to do so initially as they generally are too technical for most people's taste here...

[Ursus]

http://www.physorg.com/news92494151.html

Published: 12:49 EST, March 07, 2007
Findings may explain why omega-3s seem to improve mood

Omega-3 fatty acids, found in fatty fish like salmon, are associated with increased grey matter volume in areas of the brain commonly linked to mood and behavior according to a University of Pittsburgh study.

Findings will be presented today by Sarah M. Conklin, Ph.D., postdoctoral scholar at the Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine Program in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, at the American Psychosomatic Society’s Annual Meeting, held in Budapest, Hungary.

Animal research has shown that raising omega-3 intake leads to structural brain changes. In a separate study presented by Dr. Conklin at the society’s meeting last year, Pitt researchers reported that people who had lower blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids were more likely to have a negative outlook and be more impulsive. Conversely, those with higher blood levels of omega-3s were found to be more agreeable and less likely to report mild or moderate symptoms of depression. In the study being presented today, the researchers sought to investigate if grey matter volume was proportionally related to long-chain omega-3 intake in humans, especially in areas of the brain related to mood, helping them attempt to explain the mechanisms behind the improvement in mood often associated with long-chain omega-3 intake.

 Researchers interviewed 55 healthy adult participants to determine their average intake of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. Grey matter volume was evaluated using high-resolution structural MRI. The researchers discovered that participants who had high levels of long-chain omega-3 fatty acid intake had higher volumes of grey matter in areas of the brain associated with emotional arousal and regulation -- the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, the right amygdala and the right hippocampus.

While this finding suggests that omega-3s may promote structural improvement in areas of the brain related to mood and emotion regulation -- the same areas where grey matter is reduced in people who have mood disorders such as major depressive disorder -- investigators note that more research is needed to determine whether fish consumption actually causes changes in the brain.

Source: University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences

[Ursus]

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ ... 032405.php

Public release date: 24-Mar-2005
Fish oil holds promise in Alzheimer's fight

WASHINGTON -- Even our grandmothers told us fish was "brain food"--and now scientists have evidence to back the claim.

Researchers with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) found that a diet high in docosahexenoic acid, or DHA--an omega-3 fatty acid found in relatively high concentrations in cold-water fish--dramatically slowed the progression of Alzheimer's disease in mice. Specifically, DHA cut the harmful brain plaques that mark the disease. The results appear in the March 23 online edition of the Journal of Neuroscience.

Senior author Greg M. Cole, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System and UCLA, said that unlike many studies with mice, this one points to the benefits of a therapy that is easily available and already touted for other medical conditions. DHA--either from food sources such as fish and soy, or in fish-oil supplements--is recommended by many cardiologists for heart health, based on scores of previous studies.

"The good news from this study is that we can buy the therapy at a supermarket or drug store," said Cole. "DHA has a tremendous safety profile--essentially no side effects--and clinical trial evidence supports giving DHA supplements to people at risk for cardiovascular disease."

The new study involved older mice genetically altered to develop Alzheimer's disease. The researchers fed one group of the mice DHA-fortified chow. The control mice ate a normal or DHA-depleted diet.

After three to five months--the equivalent of several years in human biology--the high-DHA group had 70-percent less buildup of amyloid protein in the brain. This sticky protein makes up the plaques, or patches, that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's.

A similar study by Cole's group published in Neuron last fall showed that DHA protected against damage to the "synaptic" areas where brain cells communicate and enabled mice to perform better on memory tests.

The studies, say the scientists, suggest that even people who are genetically predisposed to the disease may be able to delay it by boosting their DHA intake.

Omega-3 fatty acids, typically deficient in the American diet, are essential for human health. DHA in particular is vital to proper brain function, as well as eye health and other body processes. In recent years epidemiologists have tied fish-rich diets to a lower incidence of Alzheimer's disease and homed in on DHA as the preventive factor. Omega-3 fatty acid supplements are now being tested in clinical trials with early-stage Alzheimer's patients in the United States, Canada and Sweden to see if the therapy really slows the disease.

Food sources of omega-3 fatty acids include fish such as salmon, halibut, mackerel and sardines, as well as almonds, walnuts, soy, and DHA-enriched eggs. Concerns about mercury contamination in fish have helped popularize purified DHA supplements based on fish oil or algae. Last year, Cole's team identified another nutrient that appears to combat Alzheimer's plaques in mice: curcumin, the yellow pigment in turmeric, one of the spices that make up curry powder. Researchers became interested in curcumin's potential to prevent or treat Alzheimer's disease after noting the low prevalence of dementia among the elderly in India, where curry is a staple.

###

Cole is the associate director for research at VA's Los Angeles-based Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, and a professor of medicine and neurology professor of medicine and neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Lead author for the new study was Giselle P. Lim, PhD, a UCLA postgraduate researcher in Cole's group. Working with them were colleagues from VA, UCLA and the National Institutes of Health. The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging, VA, the Alzheimer's Association, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

People wishing to receive e-mail from VA with the latest news releases and updated fact sheets can subscribe at the following Internet address: http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/opalist_listserv.cfm

[Anonymous]

Interesting..

[Deborah]

What I learned when I was reserching heart disease for my mom:
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=65854#65854
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 652#174652
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 368#175368

An imbalance of good/bad Cholesterol is not only responsible for heart disease it's also responsible for alzheimers and gallstones.
Doesn't matter how high your LDL is as long as it's less than 4 times more than the HDL. Otherwise, you're at risk. Om3 can help lower the LDL, as well as diet, supplements, exercise, and some good red wine.