From coffee to restrictive diets, unconventional treatments for ADHD are being sought by parents and studied by scientists. a growing body of literature suggests omega-3 fatty acid supplementation may be helpful for treatment of some cases of ADHD.

Omega-3 fatty acids are considered necessary for our health yet not produced by our bodies. to obtain omega-3s, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), we must include them in our diet from sources like fish or nuts.

While omega-3s have been reported to confer benefit in chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and arthritis, they are also thought to play a crucial role in brain function and are one of the most studied alternative treatments for ADHD. from a 2009 review article, the role of fatty acids in the treatment of ADHD, published in Neuropharmacology:

Several arguments have been proposed to support the hypothesis that supplementation with essential fatty acids (EFAs) could be valuable in the treatment of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Indeed, this disorder seems to involve the monoaminergic systems which have been shown to be affected by polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) status, at least in animal models. In addition, several studies have

reported abnormal nutritional status with regard to EFAs in ADHD, indicating that lower levels of longchain PUFAs occur more frequently in the plasma and/or red blood cells of ADHD subjects. few nutritional

EFA supplementation studies have been reported in ADHD to date, but several of them have shown increased blood EFA levels, although their effects on ADHD-related symptoms were not or were only partly successful.

Researchers from the Yale Child Study Center performed a systematic review of randomized placebo-controlled trials examining omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in children with ADHD symptomatology. their results were published online in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

The analysis reviewed ten trials involving 699 children and included the following conclusion:

Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation, particularly with higher doses of eicosapentaenoic acid, was modestly effective in the treatment of ADHD. the relative efficacy of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation was modest compared with currently available pharmacotherapies for ADHD such as psychostimulants, atomoxetine, or alpha-2 agonists. however, given its relatively benign side-effect profile and evidence of modest efficacy, it may be reasonable to use omega-3 fatty supplementation to augment traditional pharmacologic interventions or for families who decline other psychopharmacologic options.

The authors go on to state that “using omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in lieu of traditional pharmacologic treatments is not

recommended in children with significant ADHD symptoms.”

Sandy Newmark, M.D., is a behavioral pediatrician at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine and author of the book, ADHD without Drugs: a Guide to the Natural Care of Children with ADHD. since I first interviewed him on the radio, he has continued to answer my questions about integrative approaches to behavioral problems in children, and recently shared some of his thoughts on the aforementioned meta-analysis:

I’m glad to see this meta-analysis confirms the effect of omega-3s. I think they made a bigger deal than necessary of the effect size compared to stimulants. Note that they made no mention of the side-effects of stimulants or the lack of information on long-term effects. also, as a practical matter, omega-3s alone are only part of an integrative approach.

I think it is also worth noting that the authors don’t mention the possible side effects of omega-3s, such as gastrointestinal distress or excessive blood thinning.

Having taken omega-3s for several years, I can acknowledge that they contribute to occasional fish-oil flavored burps, but feel that the potential benefits far outweigh this minor side effect. even before the recent studies suggesting that the anti-inflammatory effect of omega-3s were helpful in anxiety, I found that regularly taking high EPA-DHA ratio fish oil helped me feel calmer, potentially making it easier for me to focus or be less impulsive.

Haitian cholera underestimated the United Nations might be underestimating the human toll posed by Haiti’s ongoing cholera epidemic, according to researchers at Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Francisco. Using a mathematical model, the team calculates that nearly 800,000 more cases of cholera could occur before the epidemic ends, killing an additional 11,000 people. Current U.N. estimates predict 400,000 cases and 4,000 deaths occurring between December 2010 and December 2011. Vaccinating 10 percent of the population could avert 63,000 cases, the researchers predict in a study posted online March 16 in the Lancet. —Nathan Seppa

Omega-3s vs. vision loss Consuming omega-3 fatty acids found in fish might lessen the risk of vision loss caused by age-related macular degeneration, Harvard University researchers report online March 14 in the Archives of Ophthalmology. Starting in 1993, more than 38,000 women filled out questionnaires regarding their health status and lifestyle. After 10 years, 235 had developed age-related macular degeneration. Those eating fish at least once a week were 13 to 62 percent less likely to develop the disorder than those who ate fish less than once a month, the researchers calculate. Researchers took into account confounding factors such as smoking, blood pressure and diabetes. —Nathan Seppa

Heavy smoking declines Since the first Surgeon General report warning against smoking came out in 1964, the percentage of smokers in the United States has fallen, as has the number of actual cigarettes lit up by those smokers per day, an international team of researchers reports in the March 16 Journal of the American Medical Association. Roughly 23 percent of U.S. adults smoked a pack a day or more in 1965, a rate that fell to 2.6 percent in California by 2007 and to 7.2 percent in the rest of the country. California has led the nation in antismoking programs. only 4.6 percent of Californians born during the 1970s who had reached age 35 were moderate-to-high-intensity smokers, compared with 13.5 percent nationwide. —Nathan Seppa

New test for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease Doctors may soon be able to diagnose a human brain-wasting condition similar to mad cow disease without taking a sample of brain tissue. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is caused by an infectious protein called a prion. the disease produces symptoms similar to other forms of dementia, so definitive diagnosis usually requires a brain biopsy or an autopsy after death. Now, researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland have developed a test that measures levels of an iron-carrying protein in the spinal fluid. low levels of transferrin protein in the spinal fluid can diagnose the disease with 80 percent accuracy, the researchers report online March 9 in PLoS one. —Tina Hesman Saey

Apple bodies no worse than pears A new study of more than 220,000 people in 17 countries finds no exaggerated heart risk for apple-shaped people — those who wear their excess fat around the belly. A major international research consortium confirmed what other studies have found: Excess weight increases an individual’s risk of heart attack and stroke. but contrary to a host of research, having that fat aggregated around the waist was no worse than having it amass at the hips or elsewhere, the authors report online March 11 in the Lancet. the findings linked heart risk primarily to factors associated with excess weight: blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol. —Janet Raloff

• Print
• |
• Comment
• |
• Tweet
• |

Post a commentBy Stephen Daniells, 18-Feb-2011

Related topics: Omega-3, Research, Nutritional lipids and oils, Cognitive and mental function

Daily supplements of omega-3 fatty acids may improve measures of depression in seniors with mild to moderate depression, according to new findings from Iran.

The role of omega-3 in depression is controversial, but there is biological plausibility.