A study suggests that fish oil could be as effective as drugs for kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder if their bodies do not have enough of the nutrient.
Scientists found omega-3 supplements helped children with ADHD to focus if they had nutrient deficiency.
But fish oil didn’t help and had opposite effects on youngsters who already had high levels of omega-3.
Researchers from King’s College London trialed the supplements on 92 children with ADHD between the ages of 6 and 18.
Focusing on EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), they gave all the participants either that or a placebo for three months.
Scientists saw ‘improvements in focused attention and vigilance’ among children who had naturally low EPA and received supplements.
However, there was no improvement for those with already normal levels of EPA. In addition, for those children who naturally had high levels of EPA, they became more impulsive.
Professor Carmine Pariente, a senior psychiatry researcher, said that fish oil supplements could be a preferable option to standard stimulant treatments for youngsters with omega-3 deficiency.
“Our study sets an important precedent for other nutritional interventions, and we can start bringing the benefits of “personalised psychiatry” to children with ADHD,” she said.
Low levels of omega-3 have already been linked to higher rates of severe ADHD. Signs of omega-3 deficiency include dry eyes or dry and scaly skin.
However, previous studies looking at the relationship between ADHD and omega-3 supplements found they did not make big differences. This could be because the treatment is only useful for a specific subset of people.
“Our results suggest that fish oil supplements are at least as effective as conventional pharmacological treatments among those children with ADHD who have omega-3 deficiency,” said Dr. Jane Chang, one of the lead scientists.
“On the other hand, it is possible to have too much of a good thing, and parents should always consult with their children’s psychiatrists since our study suggests there could be negative effects for some children.”
Professor Kuan-Pin Su also added: “High blood-levels of EPA without using supplements can be achieved through a good diet with plenty of fish, which is common in some Asian countries like Taiwan and Japan.
“It is possible that EPA deficiency is more common among children with ADHD in countries with less fish consumption, such as in North America and many countries in Europe, and that fish oil supplementation could therefore have more widespread benefits for treating the condition than in our study.”
The research was published in Translational Psychiatry.
Dr.point 157 | Jessica Agney-Blais of King’s College London did not agree with Dr.point 216 |
Chang and said: “The findings from this study offer the interesting suggestion that benefits of fish oil supplementation for performance on some neuropsychological measures of attention may be specific to those with lower levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) at baseline.point 235 | 1
“However, these findings remain suggestive given the small number of participants (29) with low baseline EPA levels (so, about 15 people in the fish oil group compared to about 15 in the placebo group).
“It is very important to keep in mind that this study did not find any benefit of fish oil supplementation over placebo on ADHD symptom levels or emotional problems among participants.”
Dr. Agney-Blais added: “These are outcomes that many studies find do improve with conventional pharmacological treatments for ADHD.
“Therefore, these findings do not suggest that fish oil supplementation is better – or as effective – as stimulant medication in treating ADHD symptoms.”
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