Hi,
Waves mentioned the two fatty acids in fish oil in other thread. That inspired this post here.
This page was updated Jan 1, 2011. It has a chart showing of studies the past ten years.
http://www.psycheducation.org/depres...ds/Omega-3.htm
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Bottom line: the research is clear. This stuff works. Not very powerfully, and it takes a while to get in there. So if you're going to do it, give it two months to evaluate.
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Fish oil contains fatty acids: EPA (eicosapentaenoic) and DHA (docusahexaenoic)
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Many of the other studies shown below, including the first one from Harvard, used fish oil tablets which provided both EPA and DHA. For now it seems safe to conclude that having both does not interfere with the antidepressant and mood stabilizing actions; and that EPA alone might be sufficient.
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Note also that their patients were also taking mood stabilizers, so this is fish oil as an add-on, not by itself as in the original study by Stoll that started this whole thing. Nevertheless, it suggests that a manageable dose of EPA might be sufficient
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Update 2007: a recent study indicates that people with severe Major Depression had less omega-three in a region of the brain associated with mood problems (frontal cortex).McNamara Interestingly, only DHA, not EPA, was decreased in this region. Does this mean that DHA matters? Much of the recent focus in omega-three treatment studies has been on EPA, but I'm not convinced that we know enough yet to focus on one or the other.
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1 gram of EPA per day -- the dose in biggest best-targeted study above, Frangou 2006 -- may be the best standard dose to shoot for. At least one might say that is probably the minimum to shoot for. How many pills is 1 gram of EPA? Depends on how concentrated the pill is, how much EPA per pill. Cheaper, less concentrated; and vice versa. See my fish (oil) stories page for the fishy details on the cheapest way to go.
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Three Risks
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Mercury and other heavy metals
Hypomania
Increased risk of easy bleeding if taking other medications known to do likewise.
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Another commonly eaten fish, albacore ("white") tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna. So, when choosing your two meals of fish and shellfish, you may eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) of albacore tuna per week.
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