Alzheimers
According to a study from Louisiana State University in September 2005, Docosahexaenoic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid often found in fish oil, may help protect the brain from cognitive problems associated with Alzheimer's disease.
A Cochrane meta-analysis, however, found no improvement in June 2012. A co-author of the study said to Time, "Our analysis suggests that there is currently no evidence that omega-3 fatty acid supplements provide a benefit for memory or concentration in later life".
In a Northern Ireland study, lupus disease activity, especially in the skin and joints, was significantly reduced in patients who received fish oil supplements at both 12-week and 24-week follow-up periods versus patients who received placebo. There were also changes in the blood platelets of the patients who took the fish oil supplements, with an increase in proteins that are considered anti-inflammatory and a decrease in proteins that promote inflammation; these changes were not evident in the group that took placebo. The fish oil group showed an increase in FMD, which the researchers took as a sign that the omega-3 oils were helping the cells in the blood vessel walls to remain healthy.
A study examining whether omega-3 exerts neuroprotective action in Parkinson's disease found that it did exhibit a protective effect in mice. The scientists exposed mice to either a control or a high omega-3 diet from two to twelve months of age and then treated them with a neurotoxin commonly used as an experimental model for Parkinson's. The scientists found that high doses of omega-3 given to the experimental group prevented the neurotoxin-induced decrease of dopamine that ordinarily occurs. Since Parkinson's is a disease caused by disruption of the dopamine system, this protective effect exhibited could show promise for future research in the prevention of Parkinson's disease.
Evidence regarding the efficacy of fish oil supplements as a treatment for depression is inconclusive. Whereas several methodologically rigorous studies have reported statistically significant positive effects in the treatment of depressed patients, other studies have found effects to be insignificant.
In 1999 a team of researchers lead by the Harvard psychiatrist Andrew Stoll published a preliminary placebo-controlled double blind trial which found Omega 3 fatty acids "improved the short-term course of illness" of bipolar disorder.He credits Donald O. Rudin for pioneering this view in 1981
A 2003 double-blind placebo-controlled study published in the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology found that among 28 patients with major depressive disorder, "patients in the omega-3 PUFA group had a significantly decreased score on the 21-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression than those in the placebo group."[ Another study in the American Journal of Psychiatry reported that the addition of fish oil supplements to regular maintenance anti-depression therapy conferred "highly significant" benefits by the third week of the trial.
A 2005 randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study conducted under the auspices of the New Zealand Institute for Crop and Food Research found "no evidence that fish oil improved mood when compared to placebo, despite an increase in circulating ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids."Another study ublished in October 2007 found that fish oil supplements conferred no additional benefits beyond those conferred by standard treatment. However, both of these studies used omega-3 primary consisting of DHA, not EPA.
A 2008 Cochrane systematic review found that limited data is available. In the one eligible study, omega-3s were an effective adjunctive therapy for depressed but not manic symptoms in bipolar disorderThe authors found an "acute need" for more randomised controlled trials.
A 2009 metastudy found that patients taking omega-3 supplements with a higher EPA:DHA ratio experienced less depressive symptoms. The studies provided evidence that EPA may be more efficacious than DHA in treating depression. However, this metastudy concluded that due to the identified limitations of the included studies, larger, randomized trials are needed to confirm these findings.
In a 2011 meta-analysis of PubMed articles about fish oil and depression from 1965-2010, researchers found that "nearly all of the treatment efficacy observed in the published literature may be attributable to publication bias."
Diets supplemented with cod liver oil have shown beneficial effects on psoriasis.
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