За рибеното масло и щастието ;-)

[no_bs]

Имам спомен, че имахме отделна тема за него, но не можах да я намеря и затова пускам отделна.

Това е една статия за изследване, проведено в болницата МакЛийн в Белмонт, МА (много добра психиатрична клиника). Копирам статията тук:

Eat fish, be happy
By Judy Foreman | March 8, 2005

Feeling depressed? Ask not what your parents did or didn't do when you were a child. Ask yourself what you had for dinner last night, and the night before, and the night before that.

For a half-dozen years, the evidence has been growing that the omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish like salmon, sardines and tuna can help prevent and treat depression.

Rich in EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), these are among the ''good" oils that have long been known to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. They are also the oils that, in recent decades, in tandem with rising depression rates, Americans have not been getting enough of.

Omega-3s combat autoimmune diseases, reduce cardiac arrhythmias and are crucial to the development of the spinal cord, brain and retina in infants and to healthy brain functioning in adults.The case for linking low omega-3 levels to depression is strong, though not yet a slam-dunk. But there is little risk and significant benefit to following the American Heart Association recommendation to eat fish at least twice a week and, if you already have heart disease, to take at least 1 gram a day of supplements containing EPA and DHA.

The latest evidence for the role of omega-3 fatty acids and depression was revealed last month when researchers from McLean Hospital in Belmont reported that omega-3 fatty acids, plus uridine, a substance found commonly in meat and other protein-rich foods, prevented depression in rats just as well as antidepressant drugs. The effect of uridine was immediate, said Bill Carlezon, director of the behavioral genetics lab at McLean. It took 30 days for omega-3 to kick in. But combining the two made omega-3 effective three times faster.

''There is something to this story," said Dr. Andrew Leuchter, vice chairman of psychiatry at the Neuropsychiatric Institute at UCLA. ''I have seen enough patients who treat themselves with omega-3 fatty acids to think these substances may have, at least in some individuals, potent effects on mood."

No one knows exactly why omega-3s might protect against depression, but theories abound. One is that depression may, in part, be an inflammatory problem, which omega-3s can dampen, said Dr. Andrew Stoll, director of psychopharmacology at McLean. Another is that the oils keep cell membranes more fluid, making it easier for receptors to respond to neurotransmitters like serotonin, which is often deficient in depression. Another is that omega-3s may boost levels of serotonin.

Whatever the underlying mechanism, ''the epidemiological evidence is huge," Stoll said, that omega-3s can protect against depression.

Overall, major depression is 60 times more prevalent in countries where little fish is eaten, said Dr. Joseph R. Hibbeln, senior clinical investigator at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

In 1998, Hibbeln and others showed that high fish-eating countries like Japan and Taiwan have very low rates of depression, while low fish-eating countries like Germany and the United States have high rates. ''When you compare rates of depression across populations," he said, ''there is a consistent finding of strikingly lower rates of major depression, bipolar disorder, seasonal affective disorder and postpartum depression in countries where people eat more seafood."
Small clinical trials also support the association -- though not uniformly.

A 2002 double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 20 people in Israel, for instance, showed that adding EPA to standard antidepressants significantly decreased depression after three weeks. A 2002 Scottish study of 60 people came to similar conclusions when patients added a 1-gram daily supplement of EPA to their standard treatment. (Interestingly, higher doses did not work as well.) A 2002 Taiwanese study of 28 people using both EPA and DHA also found significant improvement in depression scores, compared with a placebo.

But not all studies support this. Research from New Zealand, Finland and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston found no evidence that consuming omega-3s improved mood.

In the plus column, bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depression, also seems to be helped by omega-3 fatty acids. A study comparing 10 countries showed that higher fish consumption correlated with lower rates of bipolar disorder. A 1999 study by Stoll of McLean showed that giving fish-oil supplements to people with bipolar disorder reduced episodes of depression and mania.

Omega-3 fatty acids also appear to reduce hostility and homicide. Several studies have found that low intake of fish and omega-3s correlates with higher rates of hostility, which is often associated with depression in males.

And postpartum depression also appears linked to omega-3 levels. A study of women in 23 countries showed that women who ate less seafood and had lower rates of DHA in their breast milk were more likely to have postpartum depression. Pilot studies by Dr. Marlene Freeman, director of the Women's Mental Health Program at the University of Arizona, suggest taking DHA and EPA can reduce postpartum depression by 50 percent.

(Many pregnant women and nursing mothers, added Freeman, have been frightened about eating any kind of fish because of government warnings of particularly high mercury levels in a few species -- king mackerel, shark, swordfish and tilefish. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nutrition advocacy group, said sardines and salmon contain little mercury; women of reproductive age should probably limit their consumption of canned tuna to 1 can of white or 2 cans of light tuna per week.)

Even borderline personality disorder, characterized by volatile interpersonal relationships and impulsivity, seems to respond to omega-3 treatment. Yet another McLean study of 30 patients found that EPA, without any other medication, improved symptoms of borderline personality.

That's more than enough evidence for me. Given the longstanding overall health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids and the newly emerging psychiatric benefits, the conclusion is a no-brainer. Eat fish twice a week. And if you hate fish (as I do), take at least 1 gram a day of a supplement with EPA and DHA.

Judy Foreman is a freelance columnist who can be reached at [email protected].

© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.

[Snow]

Много интерсно, благогаря че постваш

Feeling depressed? Ask not what your parents did or didn't do when you were a child. Ask yourself what you had for dinner last night, and the night before, and the night before that

Смешно е как понякога големите, сложни проблеми имат толкова достъпнии очевидни решения

[no_bs]

Смешно е как понякога големите, сложни проблеми имат толкова достъпни и очевидни решения.

Спомням си как преди няколко години отидох при личния си лекар тук да му се оплача как от дълги години ме боли отдолу на ходилото на левия крак. Викам си туй бостънско светило не може да не знае как да сложи край на страданията ми.... И съм се изконтила с едни остри обущета с висок ток, ум да ти зайде. Влизам, събличам се (тук те карат да се съблечеш и да облечеш нещо като нощница при почти всички прегледи), идва доктора и аз много трогателно му обяснявам за неволите си. И той ми без да казва нищо ме накара да се изправя и да стъпя с левия крак на един бял лист хартия и с химикалка ми нарисува очертанието на ходилото. После взе въпросния мой италиански остър чепик и го сложи върху нарисуваното очертание. Нужно ли е да казвам, че естественото очертание на стъпалото ми излизаше извън формите на елегантната ми пантофка? Чичо доктор ме попита какво очаквам, напъхвайки клетите си крачета в обувки с меко казано неергономична форма и дали изпитвам същите дискомфортни усещания, когато нося маратонки (не, разбира се ) и си ме изпрати поживо-поздраво. На излизане от кабинета спрях, за да мина през секретарката и да потвърдя информацията за здравната си застраховка и докато говорех с нея той мина покрай нас и невинно pulled my leg (pun intended) с шегичката: "I love your shoes!"