Posted by Larry Hoover on September 13, 2003, at 14:46:35
In reply to epa vs dha.....lar hoover any comment appreciated » Larry Hoover, posted by joebob on September 13, 2003, at 12:50:04
> it is my understanding after much research and personal experience that as far as fish oils go for mental health the ratio of epa to dha is crucial.....
I'm not as convinced as you are. DHA does different things than EPA, but both are decreased in depressives.
> i use kirunal for that reason, i do not sell it or have any other interest in it, other than helping people get the results they need....
> you can order it from "emerson ecologics" online...
>
> for more info:
>
> http://www.fincastle.com/sp_research.html
>
> dr. horrobin, before his recent passing, was considered on of the worlds leading experts on omega 3's and mental health, and it appears to me that dr. stoll got his original hypothesis and info from dr. horrobin
>
> best to allI know that there is evidence for the efficacy of EPA as an antidepressant, but there is also evidence implicating DHA decreases with respect to, at least, postpartum depression, and risk of depression, more generally.
Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2002 Nov;67(5):311-8.
Depression and adipose essential polyunsaturated fatty acids.Mamalakis G, Tornaritis M, Kafatos A.
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Crete, Iraklion, Crete, Greece
The objective of the present study was to investigate the relation between adipose tissue polyunsaturated fatty acids, an index of long-term or habitual fatty acid dietary intake, and depression. The sample consisted of 247 healthy adults (146 males, 101 females) from the island of Crete. The number of subjects with complete data on all variables studied was 139. Subjects were examined at the Preventive Medicine and Nutrition Clinic of the University of Crete. Depression was assessed through the use of the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale. Mildly depressed subjects had significantly reduced (-34.6%) adipose tissue docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels than non-depressed subjects. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that depression related negatively to adipose tissue DHA levels. In line with the findings of other studies, the observed negative relation between adipose tissue DHA and depression, in the present study, appears to indicate increasing long-term dietary DHA intakes with decreasing depression. This is the first literature report of a relation between adipose tissue DHA and depression. Depression has been reported to be associated with increased cytokine production, such as IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, INF-gamma and INF-alpha. On the other hand, fish oil and omega-3 fatty acids have been reported to inhibit cytokine synthesis. The observed negative relation between adipose DHA and depression, therefore, may stem from the inhibiting effect of DHA on cytokine synthesis.
J Affect Disord. 2002 May;69(1-3):15-29.
Seafood consumption, the DHA content of mothers' milk and prevalence rates of postpartum depression: a cross-national, ecological analysis.Hibbeln JR.
Laboratory of Membrane Biophysics and Biochemistry, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Park 5, Room 150, 12420 Parklawn Drive, Rockville, MD 20892, USA. jhibbeln@niaaa.nih.gov
BACKGROUND: Mothers selectively transfer docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) to their fetuses to support optimal neurological development during pregnancy. Without sufficient dietary intake, mothers become depleted of DHA and may increase their risk of suffering major depressive symptoms in the postpartum period. We postulated that the DHA content of mothers' milk and seafood consumption would both predict prevalence rates of postpartum depression across countries. METHODS: Published prevalence data for postpartum depression were included that used the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (n=14532 subjects in 41 studies). These data were compared to the DHA, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and arachidonic acid (AA) content in mothers' milk and to seafood consumption rates in published reports from 23 countries. RESULTS: Higher concentrations of DHA in mothers' milk (r=-0.84, p<0.0001, n=16 countries) and greater seafood consumption (r=-0.81, p<0.0001, n=22 countries) both predicted lower prevalence rates of postpartum depression in simple and logarithmic models, respectively. The AA and EPA content of mothers' milk were unrelated to postpartum depression prevalence. LIMITATIONS: These findings do not prove that higher omega-3 status cause lower prevalence rates of postpartum depression. Data on potentially confounding factors were not uniformly available for all countries. CONCLUSIONS: Both lower DHA content in mothers' milk and lower seafood consumption were associated with higher rates of postpartum depression. These results do not appear to be an artifact of cross-national differences in well-established risk factors for postpartum depression. Interventional studies are needed to determine if omega-3 fatty acids can reduce major postpartum depressive symptoms.
Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2003 Oct;69(4):237-43.
Increased risk of postpartum depressive symptoms is associated with slower normalization after pregnancy of the functional docosahexaenoic acid status.Otto SJ, de Groot RH, Hornstra G.
Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, P.O. Box 1738, 3000, DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Observational studies suggest an association between a low docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) status after pregnancy and the occurrence of postpartum depression. However, a comparison of the actual biochemical plasma DHA status among women with and without postpartum depression has not been reported yet.The contents of DHA and of its status indicator n-6 docosapentaenoic acid (n-6DPA, 22:5n-6) were measured in the plasma phospholipids of 112 women at delivery and 32 weeks postpartum. At this latter time point, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) questionnaire was completed to measure postpartum depression retrospectively. The EPDS cutoff score of 10 was used to define 'possibly depressed' (EPDS score >/=10) and non-depressed women (EPDS score <10). Odds ratios (OR) were calculated using a multiple logistic regression analysis with the EPDS cutoff score as dependent and fatty acid concentrations and ratio's as explanatory variables, while controlling for different covariables. The results demonstrated that the postpartum increase of the functional DHA status, expressed as the ratio DHA/n-6DPA, was significantly lower in the 'possibly depressed' group compared to the non-depressed group (2.34+/-5.56 versus 4.86+/-5.41, respectively; OR=0.88, P=0.03). Lactating women were not more predisposed than non-lactating women were to develop depressive symptoms. From this observation it seems that the availability of DHA in the postpartum period is less in women developing depressive symptoms. Although further studies are needed for confirmation, increasing the dietary DHA intake during pregnancy and postpartum, seems prudent.
There's also a direct relationship between decreased DHA and mania.Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2003 Mar;13(2):99-103.
Polyunsaturated fatty acid deficit in patients with bipolar mania.
Chiu CC, Huang SY, Su KP, Lu ML, Huang MC, Chen CC, Shen WW.
Laboratory of Biological Psychiatry, Taipei City Psychiatric Center, School of Medicine, and Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
The aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that there is a depletion of polyunsaturated fatty acids of erythrocyte membranes in patients with bipolar disorder and to connect the previous therapeutic and psychoimmunological findings. Fatty acid compositions of erythrocyte membranes in 20 bipolar manic patients and 20 healthy controls were analyzed by thin-layer chromatography and gas chromatography. The major finding was significantly reduced arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3) compositions in bipolar patients as compared to normal controls with P values of 0.000 and 0.002, respectively. There were no differences in total omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. This abnormality may be related to the mechanisms of action of mood stabilizers and the previous findings on the abnormal psychoimmunology of patients with bipolar disorder. Larger sample sizes of medicated patients or drug-free manic, well-controlled designs on the diet and smoking, and fatty acid composition measurements during full remission after the index episode are warranted in future studies.
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:259580
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20030903/msgs/259680.html