A certain group of essential and safe oils have great therapeutic value for the treatment of bipolar disorders.1 Fish oils contain fatty acids in the omega-3 category such as eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, which have the potential to treat not only bipolar disorders, but also depression.1 Increased occurrence of depressive disorders over the last decades in Western countries
has been linked with reduced consumption of PUFA, which stands for polyunsaturated fatty acids and are long chain fatty acids that have two or more carbon to carbon double bonds.2 Omega-3 fatty acids are part of the PUFA category along with other fatty acids such as omega-6 fatty acids.2 Does omega-3 fatty acid consumption reduce depression? Omega-3 fatty acid consumption has been linked to reduced bipolar disorders such as bipolar depression as well as depression due to Interferon-alpha therapy (IFN-alpha therapy), which is a specific treatment for chronic hepatitis C.
Different epidemiological studies suggest that consumption of oils from cold-water fish have a protective effect against depression. This is supported by several biochemical studies that suggest that omega-3 fatty acid EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid, which is a specific omega-3 fatty acid) may regulate the conversion of a signal from outside the cell to a functional change inside the cell, and that defects in fatty acid metabolism may be the cause of depression. The purpose of this study was to see if EPA intake would decrease depression in patients diagnosed with bipolar depression. 3.
In this metabolic study, 12 bipolar I outpatients, from two Mood Disorders Clinics at the Beer Sheva Mental Health Center in Israel, with symptoms of depression, were given one and a half to two grams a day of EPA for a period of six months.3 By using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), which is a questionnaire with multiple items that provide an indication of depression, researchers measured levels of depression.