TY - JOUR
T1 - Addition of omega-3 fatty acid to maintenance medication treatment for recurrent unipolar depressive disorder
AU - Nemets, Boris
AU - Stahl, Ziva
AU - Belmaker, R. H.
PY - 2002/3/11
Y1 - 2002/3/11
N2 - Objective: Studies have reported that countries with high rates of fish oil consumption have low rates of depressive disorder. The authors studied a specific omega-3 fatty acid, the ethyl ester of eicosapentaenoic acid (E-EPA), as an adjunct to treatment for depressive episodes occurring in patients with recurrent unipolar depressive disorder who were receiving maintenance antidepressant therapy. Method: Twenty patients with a current diagnosis of major depressive disorder participated in a 4-week, parallel-group, double-blind addition of either placebo or E-EPA to ongoing antidepressant therapy. Seventeen of the patients were women, and three were men. Results: Highly significant benefits of the addition of the omega-3 fatty acid compared with placebo were found by week 3 of treatment. Conclusions: it is not possible to distinguish whether E-EPA augments antidepressant action in the manner of lithium or has independent antidepressant properties of its own.
AB - Objective: Studies have reported that countries with high rates of fish oil consumption have low rates of depressive disorder. The authors studied a specific omega-3 fatty acid, the ethyl ester of eicosapentaenoic acid (E-EPA), as an adjunct to treatment for depressive episodes occurring in patients with recurrent unipolar depressive disorder who were receiving maintenance antidepressant therapy. Method: Twenty patients with a current diagnosis of major depressive disorder participated in a 4-week, parallel-group, double-blind addition of either placebo or E-EPA to ongoing antidepressant therapy. Seventeen of the patients were women, and three were men. Results: Highly significant benefits of the addition of the omega-3 fatty acid compared with placebo were found by week 3 of treatment. Conclusions: it is not possible to distinguish whether E-EPA augments antidepressant action in the manner of lithium or has independent antidepressant properties of its own.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0036190807&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1176/appi.ajp.159.3.477
DO - 10.1176/appi.ajp.159.3.477
M3 - Article
C2 - 11870016
AN - SCOPUS:0036190807
VL - 159
SP - 477
EP - 479
JO - American Journal of Psychiatry
JF - American Journal of Psychiatry
SN - 0002-953X
IS - 3
ER -