Although there is significant clinical evidence to support using omega-3 fatty acid supplements for the treatment of depression symptoms, the supplement’s role in treating bipolar disorder is still undecided. Researchers do believe, however, that further studies should be conducted since the supplements have no serious side effects and many experts recommend them for people with heart disease and some immune disorders. 

A review of omega-3 studies appears in the latest issue of the Cochrane Library, a publication of the Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. The authors of the research reviewed five separate studies that had been conducted on omega 3’s efficiency in treating bipolar disorder. Patients with bipolar disorder often cycle between periods of mania (elevated mood and energy) and depression. The patients in these studies had less severe depression symptoms while taking the supplements, but omega-3s did not affect mania symptoms.

Bipolar disorder is among the top 30 causes of disability worldwide. Doctors prescribe a variety of mood stabilizing drugs to treat bipolar symptoms, but the medications rarely cause the symptoms to disappear completely and can have some serous side effects.  Researchers are hopeful that omega 3 supplements may eventually be used in conjunction with prescribed medications to treat a variety of psychiatric problems.

Dr. Joseph Hibbein, who heads the nutritional neurochemistry division of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, said that patients with psychiatric disorders should not take omega 3 supplements “in lieu of established treatment options.“

Source: Health Behavior News Service