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Omega-3 fatty acids may help kids with depression

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)

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Treatment with omega-3 fatty acids, the type found in fish oils, appears to benefit children suffering from clinical depression, according to a pilot study conducted in Israel.

FAB RESEARCH COMMENT:

This is only a small pilot study, but it showed significant reductions in depressive symptoms in children diagnosed with clinical-level depression after supplementation with fish oils (containing the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA) compared with placebo treatment.

Given the relative lack of safe, effective treatments for depression in children and adolescents, and the positive results from the few controlled trials to date of omega-3 for mood disorders in adults, these findings clearly deserve to be followed up promptly with large-scale clinical trials.

For further details of this study, see:


And for information on other controlled clinical trials of omega-3 for depression, please see the following list of articles, which will be updated as new research is forthcoming:

22 June 2006 - Reuters

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Treatment with omega-3 fatty acids, the type found in fish oils, appears to benefit children suffering from clinical depression, according to a pilot study conducted in Israel.

The results of some studies in adults with major depressive disorder have suggested that omega-3 fatty acids may be an effective add-on therapy. However, the effects of this supplement in children with the disorder are unknown, researchers explain in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Dr. R. H. Belmaker, of Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and colleagues conducted a trial in which 28 depressed children between the ages of 6 and 12 years old were randomly assigned to omega-3 fatty acids or placebo.

Standardized depression scores were used to assess the children at the start of the study and throughout the 16-week trial.

Twenty children who remained in the study for at least 1 month were included in the analysis. Seven out of 10 children in the active treatment group and none of the children in the placebo group had a reduction in depression scores of more than 50 percent. Four children in the omega-3 group achieved remission.

No clinically relevant side effects were reported, the researchers say.

The omega-3 fatty acid supplement used in the study was "a combination of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid that is commonly available as an over-the-counter preparation," the researchers note.

Belmaker and colleagues conclude that the effects of omega-3 fatty acids are "highly significant." This is the first such study, they believe, that has been conducted in children.

SOURCE: American Journal of Psychiatry, June 2006.