Omega-3 Fatty Acids Called Missing Link Between Depression, Heart Disease and Arthritis
Noel Peterson, ND
There's a good reason why fish has been considered brain food - omega-3 fatty acids found in cold-water fish like salmon are pivotal for proper neural development and function. But a barrage of recent evidence points to the value of these key nutrients in maintaining optimal emotional, musculoskeletal, and cardiovascular health as well.
Recently, a total of 223 patients with clinical coronary atherosclerosis diagnosed by angiogram took part in a randomised double-blind study, called the Study on Prevention of Coronary Atherosclerosis by Intervention with Marine Omega-3 fatty acids (SCIMO). Researchers tried to gauge the effects of long-term omega-3 supplementation on cardiovascular health. Results were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
After two years, patients who supplemented with 1.5 g of omega-3 acids per day showed a clear improvement in the coronary angiography results, compared to the placebo group. To monitor treatment, investigators measured the fatty acid composition of phospholipids in the red blood cells of both groups. While no change was observed in the placebo group, researchers discovered a greater than a five-fold increase in levels of key omega-3 oils, such as docosahexaenoic acid, in the red blood cells of patients who regularly supplemented their diet.
Besides providing a notable anti-atherosclerotic effect, this improvement in omega-3 fatty acid balance also seemed to reduce the number of cardiovascular events, possibly by decreasing gene expression for platelet-derived growth factors that play a key role in atherosclerotic mechanisms.
Interestingly, omega-3 involvement in both brain and heart function may explain recent compelling clinical evidence linking cardiovascular disease to major depression.
In a related letter in the Archives of General Psychiatry, physicians W. Emanuel Severus, M.D., and B. Ahrens, M.D., Ph.D., of Freie University in Berlin, and Andrew Stoll, M.D., of Boston suggest that a deficiency of omega-3 fatty acids is the "missing link" that explains why patients with major depression are at increased risk for both developing and dying from heart disease.
The physicians cite numerous studies showing that major depression is characterised by specific imbalances of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and their ratios in red blood cells. At the same time, clinical evidence shows that that these fatty acid imbalances also commonly underlie heart arrhythmia, a condition that results in poorer prognosis in cardiovascular disease and myocardial infarctions. Thus, fatty acid imbalance, they assert, constitutes the key pathophysiological mechanism linking disorders of the heart and the mind.
Sources: von Schacky C, Angerer P, Wolfgang K, Theisen K, Mudra H. The effect of dietary omega-3 fatty acids on coronary atherosclerosis. Ann Int Med 1999;130:554-562.
Severus WE. Ahrens B, Stoll A. Omega-3 fatty acids - the missing link? [letter]. Arch Gen Psychiat 1999:56:380-381.