January 20, 2004 Volume 40 Issue 03
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            Eating fish reduces bipolar disease risk

            Omega-3 fatty acids shown to lower lifetime prevalence of
affective disorder

            By Nancy Deutsch

            ROCKVILLE, MD. - Populations that consume more seafood have
markedly lower rates of bipolar disease, a new analysis suggests.

            This finding shows the need for ongoing clinical intervention
trials that examine the relationship between omega-3 fatty acids and bipolar
disorders, the authors concluded, writing in the American Journal of
Psychiatry.

            There was a wide variation in incidence of bipolar
disease-including bipolar disorder, bipolar II disorder and bipolar spectrum
disorder-in several countries included in the study. The authors looked at
lifetime prevalence rates of bipolar disease and schizophrenia in
population-based epidemiological studies that used similar methods to gather
data. They also looked at differences in apparent seafood consumption, which
economically measures the disappearance of seafood from the economy.

            Greater seafood consumption was associated with lower rates of
lifetime prevalence of bipolar disease, but was not found to be tied to
incidence of schizophrenia. There was an apparent vulnerability to bipolar
disorders among countries where people ate less than 50 lbs of seafood per
person per year.

            Lifetime prevalence for bipolar spectrum disorder ranged from a
low of 0.2% in Iceland to a high of 6.5% in Germany among the 12 countries
for which there was data. Lifetime prevalence rate for bipolar disorder
ranged from 0.3% in Taiwan to 2.6% in Israel among 11 countries. The
lifetime prevalence rate for bipolar II disorder varied among eight
countries from 0.1% in Taiwan to 2.0% in Hungary. The lifetime prevalence of
schizophrenia ranged among 14 countries from 0.1% in Hong Kong to 1.7% in
Spain.

            "The large magnitude of the effect was surprising," noted
co-author Dr. Joseph Hibbeln of the U.S. National Institutes of Health here.
Furthermore, "I expected to see some relationship to the prevalence of
schizophrenia, which I did not." This finding suggests a specificity to
affective disorders, the authors noted.

            Many years ago, when Dr. Hibbeln realized how so much of the
brain was composed of fat, he thought there must be some connection between
the fats consumed through diet and psychiatric disease.

            In the past, people consumed much more of the foods containing
omega-3 essential fatty acids found in a variety of foods such as flaxseed,
nuts, avocado and, of course, seafood.

            Dr. Hibbeln said studies have suggested that omega-3 consumption
may be a useful treatment for major depression.

            He said he believes we should eat more seafood, particularly
dark, oily fish that tends to have the most omega-3 fatty acids. "Consuming
seafood three times per week is an important issue."

            Omega-3 fatty acids are also good for your heart, he contended.
"The American Heart Association recommends that people at risk for
cardiovascular disease consume at least one gram per day of omega-3s so
there is an excellent complementary role in reducing cardiovascular
disease."

            Dr. Hibbeln said he next plans to study the role of omega-3
fatty acids in reducing aggression.



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