Study shows fish oil can reduce disorders linked to schizophrenia

But fish oil is not only proven to be beneficial in helping young adults increase their chances of not developing such severe cases of these disorders, but in the young and cognitively healthy population, the supplements have been proven to improve working memory performance.

Clive Adams, co-ordinating editor of the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group at Nottingham University said the study needed to be considered alongside other published trials on the effects of omega-3 oils, but added that it was a springboard for new trials on the treatments. Fish oil contains very important omega-3 fatty acids, which help to strengthen soft tissue like tendons and ligaments as well as the brain, improving everything from flexibility to neuroplasticity.

Fish oil is a natural source of omega-3 fatty acids.

Schizophrenia is one of the most common mental disorders and is usually diagnosed between the ages 15 and 35.

Psychiatrists are keenly interested in measures that might head off such outcomes.

Antipsychotics to prevent schizophrenia and other serious mental disorders when symptoms may start to originate oftentimes include harsh side-effects.

Professor Amminger is hopeful that this study could lead to new treatments for psychotic disorder. But the risks of weight gain, metabolic disturbances and movement disorders that come with such medications are hard to justify in young people who, while troubled, are not yet floridly delusional.

The research has helped understand that fish oil supplementation plays a role in boosting brain cell regeneration and gives rise to key neurotransmitters linked to mental well-being. Another 40 study subjects got a placebo capsule to take daily.

In the study 41 volunteers took a daily dose of Omega-3 with 700 mg of Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 480 mg of Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) for three months over the course of seven years. After about seven years, 40 percent of those who were put in the placebo group had a full-blown psychotic episode, while only 10 percent of those in the Omega-3 group experienced similar events. The benefits must now be shown in a much larger group before doctors can make any recommendations about the use of fish oils to prevent mental health problems.

A health survey conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found fish oil was the most popular natural product used by both adults and children in 2012.

The findings, wrote the authors, offer “hope there may be alternatives to psychopharmacological treatment as early interventions in young people at risk for psychosis”.

Scientists aren’t sure exactly how the fish oils can prevent schizophrenia, but the study’s empirical results provide a springboard to further research.