Can Fish Oil Help In Adhd Treatment

By Author: Muddassir Malik
Total Articles: 42
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Can Fish Oil help in ADHD treatment? Fish oil contains Omega 3 Fatty Acids - EPA and DHA. The New York Times mentions that studies have consistently found that children with A.D.H.D. have low blood levels of DHA. Other medical studies have shown children with ADHD have higher ratios of EPA and arachidonic acid in the blood of than in children without ADHD. Arachidonic acid is one of the most common fatty acids present in the brain - as is DHA.

Omega 3 oil is being used by some doctors as a treatment for ADHD - but the practice is not fully accepted.

There are some different views - some doctors have gone for fish oil exclusively, and some doctors will say that using fish oil because it is new and exciting should not prevent use of traditional therapies.

Two well known clinical trials, though not specifically targeted to classic ADHD, did document the effects of supplementation with Omega 3 oils on kids and their hyperactivity and learning. The first in 2005, the Oxford-Durham study, did find that children benefited significantly from fishoil supplementation. These were children as young as 18 months old ...
... and these children did improve their education levels.

A different Australian clinical trial was published in 2005 in The Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. In this study, 103 children were tested - ranging from 7 to 12 years in age. Some of the children received palm oil, others fish oil. Palm oil - being the placebo, did nothing to improve hyperactivity symptoms while Omega 3 supplementation helped almost 50% of the children. The NY Times notes though that this improvement was not noted in teachers' assessments.

In a May 2009 study, Omega-3/Omega-6 Fatty Acids for ADHD, Doctors and Researchers Mats Johnson, Sven Östlund, Gunnar Fransson, Björn Kadesjö, Christopher Gillberg all from Göteborg University, Sweden did a study of 75 children from ages 8-18 with ADHD. In their summary, they state that a majority of children did not respond to Omega 3/6 supplementation. They do, however, state that a subset of the children, 25% of them, achieved a 25% reduction in ADHD symptoms. After 6 months, 47% of children had responded. They state that a subgroup of children in their study responded to fish oil supplementation. It is not clear how much fish oil was given to these children.

In conclusion, fish oil supplementation for ADHD is not fully established or accepted in the medical community as of the writing of this article, but results are promising.
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