(Aug. 11, 2015) Five years ago, an international team of researchers reported that a 12-week course of omega-3 reduced the risk of early psychotic symptoms progressing to schizophrenia in a study of 81 high-risk adolescents and young adults. The study took place over the course of a year.
Now the researchers report the preventative effects of the fish oil intervention may six years or longer - a major step forward in the treatment of schizophrenia (“Longer-term outcome in the prevention of psychotic disorders by the Vienna omega-3 study,” Nature Communications).
Omega-3 fatty acids include EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). Together, these are important ingredients of naturally occurring fish oil. The individuals included in this study conducted in Vienna, Austria, had experienced early symptoms characteristic of later schizophrenia, such as mild or fleeting feelings that their thoughts were being controlled or they were being followed, often accompanied by symptoms of anxiety or depression, but they had not yet developed the full manifestations of schizophrenia. Only 10 percent of the individuals in the omega-3 group of participants went on to develop a psychotic disorder in a seven-year study period compared with 40% of the group receiving a placebo, say authors G. Paul Amminger et al.
The omega-3 participants were also less likely to be prescribed antipsychotic medications or to meet diagnostic criteria for severe mental illnesses during the follow-up period. The majority of the people that received omega-3 were employed full-time at follow-up and no longer experienced psychotic symptoms at the end of the study period, according to the report.
“If the finding that omega-3 prevents transition to full-blown schizophrenia is replicated, this would be a major breakthrough in preventing this debilitating illness,” according to Treatment Advocacy Center founder Dr. E. Fuller Torrey. Torrey said individuals who elect to use this treatment at this time for the prodromal symptoms should use purified fish oil that contains both EP (eicosapentraneoic acid) and DHA (decsoahexanoic acid). The ratio used in the present trial was 700 mg EPA and 500 mg DHA (1.2 grams total per day). Other studies done to date have used between 1.0 and 4.0 grams of omega-3 per day.
The Stanley Medical Research Institute (SMRI) funded the original study by Amminger et al. in 2003 and the follow up study. SMRI currently is funding three additional studies of omega-3 in Australia and Europe and a trial of the use of omega-3 for individuals with bipolar disorder.
SMRI is a supporting organization of the Treatment Advocacy Center, whose mission includes promoting the development of innovative treatments for and research into the causes of severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
(Photo: Hafiz Issadeen/Flickr)
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