May 27, 2008 – Eating more fish or taking omega-3 supplements may reduce symptoms of depression in older people.
This is the conclusion of a French study1 conducted among 1,390 elderly people living in the Bordeaux region. The researchers measured the participants’ omega-3 blood levels and assessed their psychological state using various tests. The participants also answered a questionnaire about their eating habits.
According to the results, older people who had low levels of omega-3s in their blood suffered more severe depressive symptoms than those who had higher blood levels.
One of two omega-3 fatty acids of marine origin, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), particularly caught the attention of the study’s principal investigator, Dr.D Pascale Barberger-Gateau. “High levels of EPA are associated with a lower frequency of symptoms,” she says.
Even more, elevated blood levels of EPA were associated with less pronounced depressive symptoms in people who took antidepressants. This suggests that omega-3s could make antidepressant drugs more effective.
This study does not explain the mechanism by which omega-3s reduce the intensity of symptoms of depression. But the DD Barberger-Gateau found that subjects who suffered little or no depression were higher consumers of fish than others2.
“As the elderly synthesize omega-3 less well, consuming more oily fish is all the more advisable”, she concludes.
Depression affects 8% to 16% of older people, to varying degrees, in Western societies.
Martin LaSalle – PasseportSanté.net
1. Barberger-Gateau P, Féart C et al, Plasma eicosapentaenoic acid is inversely associated with severity of depressive symptomatology in the elderly: data from the Bordeaux sample of the Three-City Study, Am J Clin Nutr, May 2008, Vol. 87, no 5, 1156-62.
