Omega-3 Fats May Benefit Mental Health in the Elderly

by | Feb 25, 2013 | 2012, Brain Health, Cognitive Health, Omega - 3

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. At the end of eight weeks those in the omega group had a 35% reduction in their depression score.

Depression is common in late life. Both major and minor depression are reported in 13% of community-dwelling older adults, 24% of older medical out-patients, 30% of older acute care patients and 43% of nursing home dwelling older adults (1). Major depression in the elderly is associated with increased physical disability, impaired well-being, and increased health service use and health care costs (2).

Depression is often reversible with prompt and appropriate treatment, including omega-3 fatty acids (3). Now a new study (4) suggests omega-3 fatty acid supplementation may benefit mental health in the elderly.

In the study, 46 women aged 66 to 95 and diagnosed with depression according to the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) were given either 2.5 grams of omega-3 fats per day (22 patients) or placebo (24 patients) for 8 weeks. The patients’ depression symptoms were monitored over the 8 weeks with the Geriatric Depression Scale (5), a 30-questionnaire asking participants to respond by answering ‘yes’ or ‘no’ regarding how they felt over the past week. Scores of 0–9 are considered normal, 10–19 indicate mild depression and 20–30 indicate severe depression.  Finally, blood samples were taken before and after the study.

By the end of the 8 weeks, those in the omega-3 group experienced a 35% drop in their Geriatric Depression scores (17.1 to 11.2) compared to no change in the placebo group (16.7 to 16.6, p <0.05). The researchers also looked at the ratio of omega-6 fat ( Arachidonic Acid) to omega-3 fat (DHA) between the two groups. They observed a 40.5% drop in the omega-3 group (37.010 to 22.052) compared to a 7% drop in the placebo group (31.296 to 29.151, p <0.05). The importance of improving this omega-6/omega-3 ratio by increasing omega-3 levels in the body lie in evidence showing lower concentrations of omega-3 fats to be associated not only with cognitive impairment and dementia but also with depression, a potential risk factor for cognitive decline (6).

When suggesting how omega-3 fatty acid supplementation may help with depressive symptoms, the researchers cite studies showing low omega-3 levels to result in abnormal function and breakdown of various nerve chemicals in the brain (7) and alter overall brain function derangement of cerebral activity (8).

For the researchers, “this study confirms the positive effects of n-3 PUFA supplementation in the treatment of elderly depression.”

Source: Rizzo, Angela Maria, et al. “Comparison between the AA/EPA ratio in depressed and non depressed elderly females: omega-3 fatty acid supplementation correlates with improved symptoms but does not change immunological parameters.” Nutrition journal 11.1 (2012): 82.

© 2012 Rizzo et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

Click here to read the full text study.

Posted February 25, 2013.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com

References:

  1. Blazer DG: Depression in late life. 3rd edition. St Louis: Mosby Year Book; 2002
  2. Beekman AT. Consequences of major and minor depression in later life: a study of disability, well-being and service utilization. Psychol Med. 1997:1397–409
  3. Kraguljac NV, Montori VM, Pavuluri M, Chai HS, Wilson BS, Unal SS: Efficacy of omega-3 Fatty acids in mood disorders – a systematic review and metaanalysis. Psychopharmacol Bull 2009, 42:39–54.
  4. Rizzo AM.  Comparison between the AA/EPA ratio in depressed and non depressed elderly females: omega-3 fatty acid supplementation correlates with improved symptoms but does not change immunological parameters. Nutr J. 2012 Oct 10;11:82. doi: 10.1186/1475-2891-11-82
  5. Yesavage JA, Brink TL, Rose TL, Lum O, Huang V, Adey M, Leirer VO: Development and validation of a geriatric depression screening scale: a preliminary report. J Psychiatr Res 1983, 17:37–49
  6. Milte CM, Sinn N, Street SJ, Buckley JD, Coates AM, Howe PR: Erythrocyte polyunsaturated fatty acid status, memory, cognition and mood in older adults with mild cognitive impairment and healthy controls.  Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids 2011, 84:153–61.
  7. Nishizaki T, Ikeuchi Y, Matsuoka T, Sumikawa K: Short-term depression and longterm enhancement of ACh-gated channel currents induced by linoleic and linolenic acid. Brain Res 1997, 751:253–8
  8. Connor WE, Neuringer M, Lin DS: Dietary effects on brain fatty acid composition: the reversibility of n-3 fatty acid deficiency and turnover of docosahexaenoic acid in the brain, erythrocytes, and plasma of rhesus monkeys. J Lipid Res 1990, 31:237–247.