Could Fish Oil Supplements Help Prevent Schizophrenia?

Omega-3 fatty acids found within popular fish oil dietary supplements may be able to effectively reduce the long-term risk of developing psychotic disorders, according to a recent study.

In order to examine this relationship, researchers followed 81 individuals between 13 and 25 years old who were at risk of developing psychosis or schizophrenia in a randomized, double-blind trial. Forty-one participants were assigned to a 3-month daily course of fish oil and the remaining 40 participants were assigned to placebo.
_________________________________________________________________________

RELATED CONTENT
Omega-3 Fish Oil Could Reduce Epileptic Seizure Frequency
Fish Oil May Protect Alcohol Abusers From Neurodegeneration
_________________________________________________________________________

Participants were monitored for 12 months after the 3-month intervention. Overall, of the 76 participants who completed the study, 2 of the 41 in the fish oil group and 11 of the 40 in the placebo group had developed a psychotic disorder.

In a follow-up analysis 7 years after the original study results were recorded, researchers found that only 4 of the 41 individuals in the fish group had developed a psychotic disorder, while 16 of the 40 in the placebo group had developed one.

“The majority of the individuals from the omega-3 group did not show severe functional impairment, were employed full-time, and no longer experienced attenuated psychotic symptoms at follow-up,” they concluded.

“The results in the non-transitioned group emphasize the longer-term preventive and therapeutic effect in some of the participants who received omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Amminger GP, Shafer MR, Schlogelhofer M, et al. Longer-term outcome in the prevention of psychotic disorders by the Vienna omega-3 study. Nature Communications. August 11, 2015 [epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1038/ncomms8934.