Omega-3 eases depression: study

Omega-3 supplements helppatients with major depression who do not have anxiety disorders, according to the largest study so far on the issue.

The effect onpatients who tookomega-3 capsules was comparable to that generally observed with conventional antidepressant treatment, researcherstold a news conference Monday in Montreal.

A total of 432 patients were followed over a four-year period during the double-blind studyconductedat the Centre hospitalier de l'Universit de Montral , McGill University in Montreal, Laval University in Quebec City and Queen's University in Kingston.

"We used a sample of people who are very much like the type of people who come to be treated in outpatient clinics for depression," said Nancy Frasure-Smith of McGill, who has a PhD in nursing and is one of the lead investigators. "So they had many, many other problems as well as depression."

For eight weeks, half of the participants took three capsules a day of an omega-3 supplement containingfish oil with 1,050 milligrams of eicosapentaenoic acid. The other half receiveda placebo.

The study foundthat the supplement helped about half of the sample of patients those who had depression without anxiety disorders, said Frasure-Smith.

"The hardest-to-treat people are really those with anxiety as well, but there have also been major difficulties in treating people that you'd think would be simpler to treat the people who simply have major depression," she said. "This is an alternative for them, which is worth exploring with their physicians."

The researchers could not say if food with omega-3, such asfish, would have the same effect, because their test involved onlythe supplement form.

The researchers recommend that people with major depression discuss the use of omega-3 with their physicians before supplementing their diets with the unsaturated fatty acid.

Some 11 per cent of men and 16 per cent of women suffer from major depression at some point in their lives, the researchers said.

The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.