Encouraging results have been found in a study of omega-3s for ADHD symptoms. The results showed “significant, but slight, improvement for one omega-3 fatty acid”.
According to the study the reason for investigating the possibility that omega-3 could help children with ADHD is “Omega-3 fatty acids have anti-inflammatory properties and can alter central nervous system cell membrane fluidity and phospholipid composition. Cell membrane fluidity can alter serotonin and dopamine neurotransmission. The goal of this meta-analysis was to examine the efficacy of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in children with ADHD.”
The researchers identified 10 reports that included 699 children aged between 9 and 12 years old. These trials were included in this meta-analysis. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation demonstrated a small but significant effect in improving ADHD symptoms. Eicosapentaenoic acid dose within supplements was significantly correlated with supplement efficacy.
Only EPA was significantly more efficacious than placebo, both overall and for hyperactivity and attention symptoms separately, but had a small effect size (0.31). Higher EPA dose was significantly associated with greater response.
Comment:
These promising findings for a non-pharmacological intervention are tempered by the effect size, which is small compared with that for stimulants. A larger effect size might be evident if only children with low baseline levels were included. Measuring baseline fatty acids and examining a range of EPA doses would be useful in future studies.
Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.
Source: Published in Journal Watch Psychiatry September2, 2011 Citation(s): Bloch MH and Qawasmi A. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation for the treatment of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptomatology: Systematic review and meta-analysis. J Amer Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2011.
This is an interesting finding as a lot of products available to assist children are higher in DHA than EPA. It was thought that DHA is the essential fat required by the brain, and EPA was more anti-infamatory. Maybe it is the inflamation which may be causing lack of ability to focus for some children. Given the lack of nutritional diets and the intense stress some children experience in early childhood this is not all that surprising.