Omega -3 Fatty Acid, an Adjunct Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder

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.

In other words, depression is a common and serious psychological illness, affecting the physical and mental functions of patients, including the ways patients feel, think and act.

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 may require the treatment of medication, such as antidepressant medications and psychotherapy that help to reduce and sometimes eliminate the symptoms of depression.

There are many causes associated with the onset of depression, including genetics, changes in hormone levels, certain medical conditions, stress, grief or difficult life circumstances that initiate the change of brain chemistry in inducing depressive syndrome.

The most common symptoms of depression include sadness, hopelessness, guilt, change of mood, loss of interest in friends, family, favorite activities, and sex.

Some patients with depression also experience cognitive symptoms of trouble concentrating, making decisions, remembering and thoughts of harming themselves.

Major depressive disorder (MDD), is a medical condition characterized by a persistent feeling of sadness or a lack of interest in outside stimuli.

Conventionally, as of today, there is no way to prevent major depression. However, early diagnosis can be helpful to reduce symptoms and the risk of recurrence.

A combination of psychotherapy and medication has been found to improve symptoms and quality of life in patients with major depressive disorder, including serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil), citalopram (Celexa) and escitalopram.

Antidepressants including bupropion (Wellbutrin), venlafaxine (Effexor), mirtazapine (Remeron) and duloxetine (Cymbalta) can be effective but they take at least two to six weeks to see the improvement

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 for the treatment of depression, researchers investigated the effects that PUFAs on the brain and the immune system, including the effects of proinflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress, and their therapeutic benefits in major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder.

The study included the search of medical literature published PubMed and Google Scholar, with no restrictions on the publication dates or geographically, including the facilities in Washington, DC, and Davis, California.

According to the tested analysis,
* Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) demonstrated a highly inflammatory state that contributes to many significant health complications.

* The application of omega-3 PUFAs has been found to treat those issues.

Furthermore, omega-3 fatty acids showed strong therapeutic benefits in the treatment of both MDD and bipolar disorder and are effective as a monotherapy and, particularly, as an adjunct therapy. 

Based on the findings, researchers said, "The efficacy of omega-3 supplementation is clearly useful in promoting better health overall and supplementation should be encouraged in the primary care setting."

And "A meta-analysis exploring an adjunct treatment of supplemental eicosapentaenoic acid or docosahexaenoic acid is likely to yield the greatest benefits to psychiatric conditions and provide an answer to proper dosing regimens".

Taken altogether, Omega-3 fatty acids found abundantly in fish oil and plant oil may be considered an adjunct treatment of the major depressive disorder (MDD), pending to 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 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) The Psychoneuroimmunological Role of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder by Rutkofsky IH, Khan AS, Sahito S, Kumar V. (PubMed)
(2) Meta-analysis and meta-regression of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation for major depressive disorder by Mocking RJ1, Harmsen I1, Assies J1, Koeter MW1, Ruhé HG1,2, Schene AH. (PubMed)