omega-3 fatty acids for prevention of psychotic disorders

A new study suggests that fish oil may be beneficial in adolescents and young adults who are at risk of developing psychotic disorders.

Some earlier evidence suggests that omega-3 fatty acids may have positive effects on various psychiatric illnesses, such as depression and schizophrenia. Since using antipsychotic medicine to prevent psychotic disorders is controversial, researchers set out to test the preventative effects of fish oil supplements, which are rich in fatty acids and have few side effects when used appropriately.

The study included 81 people who had low-level psychotic symptoms, transient psychotic symptoms, a schizophrenia-like personality disorder or a close relative with schizophrenia. The participants were 13-25 years old and all experienced a drastic decline in mental function within the last year.

The subjects were randomly assigned to receive fish oil supplements that contained 1.2 grams of omega-3 fatty acids or placebo daily for 12 weeks. The researchers monitored the participants for 40 weeks after treatment, and a total of 76 people completed the study.

By the end of the follow-up period, just five percent of people in the omega-3 group developed a psychotic illness compared to 28 percent in the placebo group. Additionally, people in the omega-3 group experienced significant improvements in psychotic symptoms and mental function.

via blog.naturalstandard.com

Encouraging results. I am curious as to the proposed neuroprotective mechanism: is it inflammation? Or is this patient population at risk for nutritional deficiencies? Additionally, would the same results be achieved by dietary recommendations, such as increasing intake of foods known to be high in omega-3 fatty acids (e.g., flaxseed).

Posted via web from @ Medication Use

Med students say conventional medicine would benefit by integrating CAM

In the largest national survey of its kind, researchers from UCLA and the University of California, San Diego, measured medical students’ attitudes and beliefs about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and found that three-quarters of them felt conventional Western medicine would benefit by integrating more CAM therapies and ideas.

“Our research suggests that persuading doctors to integrate CAM will require investment in the types of clinical research that form the backbone of Western medicine,” Abbott said. “Even now, medical schools have the opportunity to train the next generation of medical practitioners in health care systems outside of conventional medicine. Core values of CAM can help students develop a more holistic and individualized approach to patient care.”

“Although the content of integrative medicine programs remains controversial, medical schools across the country are moving forward with ambitious new programs to teach the next generation of health care leaders,” said Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, the Wallis Annenberg Professor of Integrative East-West Medicine at UCLA, founder and director of the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine, and chair of UCLA’s Collaborative Centers for Integrative Medicine. “Through the Collaborative Centers for Integrative Medicine, UCLA has become one of the nation’s leading academic centers for integrative medical education. UCLA offers training programs for health sciences students and residents, as well as fellowships for clinicians and researchers.”

Hui added that the importance of integrative medical education is increasingly being realized outside of UCLA. Forty-four highly esteemed academic medical centers are now part of the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine, which was established to advance the principles and practices of integrative health care within academic institutions. It provides a community of support for academic missions and a collective voice for influencing change. The consortium also helps disseminate evidence-based information on CAM, informs health care policy and supports medical education.

Encouraging information which lends evidence to the opinion that we should be focusing our energies towards complementary and integrative medical practice. The patients want this. The providers want this. What is holding us back?

“Truth has no path. Truth is living and, therefore, changing.”
Bruce Lee

Posted via web from @ Medication Use

Dietary supplements may produce health benefits…should patients take them?

Supplements try to reduce food “to a single component, such as one nutrient or one antioxidant,” said Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University, but no study or test has proved what exactly makes food, such as fruits and vegetables, so healthy. “It may not be one thing; maybe it’s the combination.”

Others see dietary supplements as a type of insurance: “There is a big discrepancy between what people think they eat and what they actually are eating,” said Kelly Dorfman, a nutritionist in North Potomac. “Taking nutrients just makes good sense.”

And for certain medical conditions, such as diabetes, supplements are highly recommended. Benjamin Caballero, a professor at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said he does not think any “healthy person with a healthy diet” should take dietary supplements, with a few exceptions: “pregnant woman; children under the age of 6 months who are being breast-fed, as breast milk is not rich in vitamins A, C, and D; and people with gastrointestinal problems.” And, in those cases, he believes a doctor would have already been consulted.

via washingtonpost.com

This is an interesting – but thin – opinion piece to which I believe there are some grains of truth. Diet should be the foundation of any desire for health. However, I think the point that the quoted experts in this article are missing, is that from a population-level Americans are not getting the nutrients they need from our diets (there is a reason the SAD is the acronym for the Standard American Diet). Secondly, would most providers know how to assess a patient’s diet, their need for functional nutrients and their need to supplement with macro/micronutrients and herbs? Doubtful. That kind of training and education is missing from standard biomedical curriculum. Naturopathic Physicians (http://www.aanmc.org/) are well-placed to provide patient care in this arena. And hopefully, we’ll continue to see outcomes-based literature providing evidence for some of these interventions.

Food for thought.

Posted via web from @ Medication Use

The Problem of the Present

“The problem of the present is fundamental and must be solved if we are to continue as the Eclectic Section in Medicine. We must choose between being absorbed by the dominant section, our professional activities dictated and controlled, our policies subject to the approval of an unfriendly, prejudiced, self-constituted authority, and soon lose our identity as the Eclectic Section of American Medicine, or adapt ourselves to the general social change and retain the old Eclectic values of individual freedom of thought and action, independence in practice and the right to use that which has stood the test of experience in our service to mankind.

If we are to retain the heritage passed on to us by our Eclectic fathers, we must purge ourselves of the cowering fear of prejudicial criticism that comes from the uninformed and vicious contingent of the majority section in medicine. Rather should we listen to the voice of suffering humanity calling for physicians to relieve pain, restore and maintain health and efficiency; for institutions of intelligence and understanding dedicated and standardized for the purpose of rendering service.”

J. C. Hubbard, M.D – President of the Eclectic Medical Association (1934)

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