http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/fish-oil-reduces-youth-psychosis-20100201-n8v4.html
Fish oil 'reduces youth psychosis' NICK MILLER February 2, 2010 FISH oil supplements can dramatically reduce the chance of young people developing psychosis or schizophrenia, Australian researchers say. Lead researcher Paul Amminger said colleagues had laughed when he proposed the study, but the results surprised even him. The adolescent psychiatrist from the University of Melbourne's Orygen research centre says doctors should now consider fish oil as a genuine alternative to expensive and more risky anti-psychotics when a young patient is showing early signs of mental illness. And he believes the oil's omega-3 fatty acids might help prevent depression and drug abuse. In the study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry journal, 41 high-risk patients were given four fish oil capsules a day for three months. Only two of them developed a psychotic disorder, compared with 11 of another 40 who took a placebo. Orygen, home of the Australian of the Year Pat McGorry who was a co-author on this study, has played a world-leading role in promoting the power of early intervention on youth psychosis. However this has sparked some controversy, associate professor Amminger said. ''People argued that [pharmaceutical] medication might have too many side-effects at the early stage of developing a disorder,'' he said. High-powered anti-psychotic drugs can come with metabolic changes, sexual dysfunction and weight gain which are often not acceptable for young people, leading to high drop-out rates. Very few people dropped out of the fish oil treatment regime, and a 12-month follow up showed the effect seemed to protect the brain even after the patient stopped taking the pills. ''I hope the whole scientific community takes on this idea and takes this area more seriously,'' associate professor Amminger said. ''Originally some of my colleagues were laughing at us for saying we might prevent schizophrenia with something like fish oil.'' The researchers are now planning two new studies based on the results. Ads by Google [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
