Military interest in omega-3s
The US military also continues to spend research dollars on omega-3s, with the focus on reducing suicide rates among service personnel.
Dr Dan Johnston (above) from the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness/Performance, Resilience and Enhancement Program, at the Headquarters of the Department of the Army, in Washington, DC, spoke to us in August about his findings that US military personal with low omega-3 levels are at a higher risk of reduced cognitive flexibility and executive function.
Measuring the omega-3 index of 78 serving US soldiers in Iraq revealed that, while there were no associations between omega-3 levels and anxiety, depression, or sleep, there were strong associations with cognitive flexibility and executive function. Dr Johnson published his findings in Nutritional Neuroscience.
Evidence is also growing for the potential of omega-3s to help with brain trauma. A case report published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine claimed to be the first report of the specific use of omega-3s following severe traumatic brain injury.
“Although further research is needed to establish the true advantage of using n-3 fatty acids, our experience suggests that benefits may be possible from aggressively adding substantial amounts of n-3 fatty acids to optimize the nutritional foundation of severe TBI patients,” wrote Michael Lewis, MD, Parviz Ghassemi, and Joseph Hibbeln, MD.
“An optimal nutritional foundation must be in place if the brain is to be given the best opportunity to repair itself.”