Alternative Health Blog

In a case-control study involving 166 adults - 86 inpatients with major depressive disorder but without cardiovascular disease and 80 age- and sex-matched healthy controls - various conventional risk factors of cardiovascular disease (high triglycerides (152 mg/dL vs 100 mg/dL), fasting glucose (96 mg/dL vs 87 mg/dL) greater waist circumference (97 cm vs 87 cm), and higher BMI (26 vs. 24 kg/m(2))) were found to be more prevalent in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), while the omega-3 index (3.9% vs. 5.1%) and levels of individual omega-3 fatty acids were significantly lower in patients with MDD. Moreover, having an omega-3 index less than 4% was found to be associated with higher concentrations of IL-6, a pro-inflammatory cytokine. The authors conclude, "Our results support the employment of strategies to reduce the cardiovascular risk in still cardiovascularly healthy MDD patients by targeting conventional risk factors and the Omega-3 Index." These r esults suggest that supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids in order to improve the Omega-3 index, in such a population, may be beneficial.