Al. Stoll et al., Omega 3 fatty acids in bipolar disorder - A preliminary double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, ARCH G PSYC, 56(5), 1999, pp. 407-412
Background: omega 3 Fatty acids may inhibit neuronal signal transduction pa
thways in a manner similar to that of lithium carbonate and valproate, 2 ef
fective treatments for bipolar disorder. The present study was performed to
examine whether omega 3 fatty acids also exhibit mood-stabilizing properti
es in bipolar disorder.
Methods: A 4-month, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, comparing omega
3 fatty acids (9.6 g/d) vs placebo (olive oil), in addition to usual treat
ment, in 30 patients with bipolar disorder.
Results: Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of the cohort found that the omega
3 fatty acid patient group had a significantly longer period of remission t
han the placebo group (P=.002; Mantel-Cox). In addition, for nearly every o
ther outcome measure, the omega 3 fatty acid group performed better than th
e placebo group.
Conclusion: omega 3 Fatty acids were well tolerated and improved the short-
term course of illness in this preliminary study of patients with bipolar d
isorder.