After seven years of studying the effects of fish oil on the prevalence of psychosis and psychotic conditions, Australian researchers have concluded that the oil may reduce the onset of mental illnesses.
The study, as reported by UPI Friday, was a follow-up of a study that took place between 2004 and 2007, in which researchers asserted that taking regular doses of fish oil could reduce the risk of mental illness.
The Australian study, published in Nature: Communications, polled “71 of the 81 participants” in the original study.
The results of the study were published and were quoted as revealing that only about 10 percent of those who took fish oil had developed psychosis, while 16 people in the original group of 40 who took placebos were diagnosed with a psychotic condition.
Dr. Paul Amminger, a University of Melbourne professor, worked on the study. He was quoted as saying that the research “gives hope that there may be alternatives” to the medications usually given to combat psychosis.
Schizophrenia is a major cause of disability, but early treatment has been linked to better outcomes. Our study gives hope that there may be alternatives to antipsychotic medication.
While the UPI story didn’t emphasize specific psychotic conditions, a Los Angeles Times story focused on schizophrenia.
Reporter Melissa Healy wrote this past week that teens at high risk for schizophrenia saw significant reductions in developing the illness after taking regular doses of fish oil.
Even just a “brief regimen” of the supplement produced “lasting and far-ranging” effects on participants in the study.
The apparent effects of a brief regimen of fish oil capsules were both lasting and far-ranging in a population of young adults whose mental health is fragile.
Fish oil has also been linked to improved focus for people with ADHD and without ADHD, as well as increasing the effectiveness of antidepressants.
