Healthy Skepticism Library item: 5368

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Publication type: news

Depressed Children May Response to Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Reuters 2006 Jun 21
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/537105

Notes:

Ralph Faggotters Comments:

The discovery that giving unhappy children harmless fish oil capsules may be more effective at relieving their symptoms than the commonly used toxic anti-depressant drugs, should have made headline news around the world— but it didnt.
Why?
Because there was no large corporation to buy the prime time news space?
Because the medical profession does not want to hear this sort of news?

Full text:

Reuters

Depressed Children May Response to Omega-3 Fatty Acids

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jun 21 – Treatment with omega-3 fatty acids
appears to have therapeutic benefit for prepubescent children with major
depression, according to the findings of a pilot study conducted by
researchers 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 prepubescent children with major
depression are unknown, Dr. R. H. Belmaker, of Ben Gurion University of the
Negev, Israel, and colleagues write.

Dr. Belmaker’s group therefore conducted a controlled, double-blind trial in
which 28 children between the ages of 6 and 12 years old were randomized to
omega-3 fatty acids or placebo. The Children’s Depression Rating Scale
(CDRS), Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI), and Clinical Global
Impression (CGI) were used to assess the subjects at baseline 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 CDRS score of more than 50%
(p = 0.003). Four children in the omega-3 group met criteria for remission
compared with none in the placebo group. Results of CDI and CGI scores also
showed significant improvements in the omega-3 group compared with the
placebo group.

No clinically relevant side effects were reported, according to the report
in the June issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

The omega-3 fatty acid 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.

Dr. 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.

Am J Psychiatry 2006;163:1098-1100.

Reuters Health Information 2006. C 2006 Reuters Ltd.

————————————————————————————-

American Journal of Psychiatry 163:1098-1100, June 2006
doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.163.6.1098
C 2006 American Psychiatric Association

Brief Report
Omega-3 Treatment of Childhood Depression: A Controlled, Double-Blind Pilot
Study
Hanah Nemets, M.D., Boris Nemets, M.D., Alan Apter, M.D., Ziva Bracha, M.D.
and R.H. Belmaker, M.D.

OBJECTIVE: Major depressive disorder in children may be more common than
previously thought, and its therapeutics are unclear. Because of success in
a previous study on omega-3 fatty acids in adult major depressive disorder,
the authors planned a pilot study of omega-3 fatty acids in childhood major
depression. METHOD: Children who entered the study were between the ages of
6 and 12. Ratings were performed at baseline and at 2, 4, 8, 12, and 16
weeks using Children’s Depression Rating Scale (CDRS), Children’s Depression
Inventory (CDI), and Clinical Global Impression (CGI). Children were
randomized to omega-3 fatty acids or placebo as pharmacologic monotherapy.
Twenty-eight patients were randomized, and 20 completed at least 1 month’s
ratings. RESULTS: Analysis of variance showed highly significant effects of
omega-3 on symptoms using the CDRS, CDI, and CGI.

CONCLUSIONS: Omega-3 fatty acids may have therapeutic benefits in childhood
depression.