Omega-3s May Reduce Risk of Developing Psychotic Disorder
by -- Jeff Muise Updated: Feb 2nd 2010
TUESDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Young people with subclinical psychotic symptoms who take omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) may have reduced risk of progression to a full-blown psychotic disorder, according to a study in the February issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
G. Paul Amminger, M.D., of the Medical University of Vienna in Austria, and colleagues randomized 81 subjects at ultra-high risk of psychotic disorder, aged 13 to 25 years, to take either 1.2-g/d omega-3 PUFA or placebo for 12 weeks. The groups were monitored for up to 40 weeks for the primary outcome of transition to psychotic disorder, and secondary outcomes, including changes in symptoms and functioning.
By the end of the study, the researchers found that 4.9 percent of the subjects in the omega-3 group and 27.5 percent of subjects in the placebo group had made the transition to a psychotic disorder, a difference of 22.6 percentage points. Furthermore, compared to placebo, taking omega-3 PUFA was found to significantly reduce positive, negative and general symptoms of psychosis and improve functioning. The group differences persisted after the end of the intervention, a result not found in studies with antipsychotic drugs. The researchers also note that the groups did not differ significantly for depressive symptoms, which were markedly reduced in both groups.
"Long-chain omega-3 PUFAs reduce the risk of progression to psychotic disorder and may offer a safe and efficacious strategy for indicated prevention in young people with subthreshold psychotic states," the authors write.
