Omega-3 Fatty Acids Reduce the Risk of Postpartum Depression (PPD)

By Kyle J. Norton

Depression is a normal response as part of our daily lives such as the loss of s job, the death of a loved one, and illness.

Over 30 million Americans suffer from depression and the amount is increasing at an alarming rate. 

Depression may be a mental health disorder that can affect the way you eat, sleep, and the way you feel about yourself. 

The mild case of depression can be defeated by a variety of self-care techniques. Others require the treatment of medication, such as antidepressant medications and psychotherapy that help to reduce and sometimes eliminate the symptoms of depression.

Postpartum depression (postnatal depression), is a type of clinical depression, that affects women after childbirth. Normally this nervous tension occurs in women in the first new months of pregnancy, but in some women, it can last after childbirth. 

The rate of occurrence is between 5 -25%, depending on the uniqueness of each woman. In men, the occurrence of postpartum depression is uncleared, affecting between 1% and 25%.

Normally the symptoms will go away on their own in a short period of time (Baby blue symptoms). In some women, the symptoms get more serve every day and do not go away which can lead to the onset of postpartum depression.

Since postpartum depression is a serious mental illness, it can interfere with your ability to look after yourself, your child, and your daily activities performance, etc.

If left untreated, it can badly affect your newborn such as loving one minute and being withdrawn the next, do not respond to the needs of the baby, leading to the insecurity attachment(a negative feeling when they are baby), lack of emotional bond between the mother and the baby, etc

Omega-3 fatty acids are phytochemicals in the class of lipids, found abundantly in deepsea fisk, dark-green leafy vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, etc.

The three main components of Omega-3 fatty acids are alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

On finding a potential phytochemical that processed anti-psychological activity researchers examined and compared the effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation on depression during pregnancy or postpartum depression (PPD) after childbirth.

The study included a search of medical literature published on MEDLINE, PubMed, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Collaboration Registry of Controlled Trials, etc. through July 2017.

According to the identified studies, omega-3 fatty acid deficiency, due to inadequate intake, and fast depletion during pregnancy and lactation were associated with one of the risk factors of PPD.

Additionally, the elevated neuroinflammation (elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines) and aberrant neurotransmission (low serotonergic transmission activity) also increased the risk of PPD.

Supplementation with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)-rich oil showed effectively reduces depression during pregnancy and PPD after childbirth. 

However, long-term treatment with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-rich oil could also be effective in reducing the risk of PPD in healthy women, but not in lactating women.

Moreover, Supplementation of DHA-rich oil to women begun at pregnancy and continued after childbirth showed no beneficial effect on depression.

Based on the evidence, researchers wrote, "Dietary supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids rich in EPA during pregnancy or postpartum reduces some symptoms associated with depression. DHA supplementation to healthy pregnant women can also reduce the risk of PPD".

Taken altogether, Omega-3 fatty acids may be considered functional foods for the prevention of postpartum depression (PPD), pending the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of Omega-3 fatty acids in the form of supplements should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose and acute liver toxicity.


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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation in prevention and treatment of maternal depression: Putative mechanism and recommendation by Hsu MC1, Tung CY2, Chen HE. (PubMed)