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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Epilepsy / October 2005Omega-3s alleviate epileptic seizures
All five [epileptic] patients exhibited substantial improvement and alleviation in frequency and strength of both GM [Grand mal] and PM [Petit mal] seizures. No adverse affects were noticed in any of them. Our study shows that n-3 PUFAs [omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids] can alleviate symptoms of human epilepsy. Epilepsia, January, 2002 Howdy! Hate to burst anybody's bubble but... Any study that was only carried out on ONLY 5 PEOPLE doesn't carry much weight statistically. BTW: What the smeg is: "STRENGTH OF A SEIZURE" and how is it measured?  SignatureDave ©¿© "Ego sum quis Ego sum quod ut est quicumque Ego sum" http://www.howdydave.com > All five [epileptic] patients exhibited substantial improvement and > alleviation in frequency and strength of both GM [Grand mal] and PM [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Epilepsia, January, 2002 And the report is 4 years old next January (publication date at end)-- you'd think Med. Staffs would have reacted by now for those who have GM or PM szrs. (I don't). G./ > Howdy! > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >> >> Epilepsia, January, 2002 Any beneficial effect of n-3 PUFAs is certainly not well established. Our lab has only just started looking at them in animal models of epilepsy as opposed to the ketogenic diet, which doesn't work well in animal models. > And the report is 4 years old next January (publication date at end)-- > you'd think Med. Staffs would have reacted by now for those who have GM or [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >>> >>> Epilepsia, January, 2002 Granted this was a small study, however the results were quite dramatic. The frequency of grand mal seizures before the omega-3 diet and after were as follows: Patient 1 - Grand mal seizures before were 2-3 per week and after zero. Patient 2 - Grand mal seizures before were 6-8 per week and after zero. Patient 3 - Grand mal seizures before were 1-2 per week and after 1 per month. Patient 4 - Grand mal seizures before were 1-2 per week and after zero. Patient 5 - Grand mal seizures before were 14 per week and after 3 per week. Well, here's my 2 cents: 1st penny: It really would be nice to ever get any follow-up info, even if it was only on 5 people. 2nd penny: If it was so great, where is the follow-up? Hmmm...sounds...Omega-3s!?!? some big dudes would lose some big money if it did this, maybe it had to be crushed!?!? >From someone whose medicine costs more than his income (and remember, these comments are only worth 1 cent each) ;) E.B. > Granted this was a small study, however the results were quite > dramatic. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > Patient 5 - Grand mal seizures before were 14 per week and after 3 > per week. But the post Darwin did yesterday (on this thread) said their lab (don't recall where it is), just started doing animal models. That's normally done for months to 1+ years? before human tests and placebos are done ?? How did Patients 1-5 (quoted above) get into the tests when the animal studies hadn't been done yet? I think that was what one of the earlier posters was getting at. G./ > > Granted this was a small study, however the results were quite > > dramatic. [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > hadn't been done yet? I think that was what one of the earlier posters > was getting at. G./ Well, for things which are already considered foods and not drugs it might be a lot easier to get approval for trials in humans. Think of the ketogenic diet, Atkins diet and now n-3 PUFAs...all used in humans before tried in animal models of epilepsy. If there's any sign of a benefit then details of the mechanism can be worked out in animal models to try to make the effect more reliable and to try to predict what seizure types it might be most effective on. > "G.Ross" > wrote in message >> [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > the effect more reliable and to try to predict what seizure types it might > be most effective on. I was thinking more of things like MSG, thalidomide and ?? (preservative used in fast foods (trans fats?) that is currently being linked to Childhood Obesity in our Schools in Canada, and U.S.? ). I guess the fact something is already approved, doesn't matter a whole lot to me. Lots of things had once been already approved. It wouldn't apply for me as I'm controlled, but some of us were raising a flag that the fact something got approved for other things, when less was known about why they worked, or might have bypassed approvals for the use it's been added, might yet require some kind of scutiny to see there are no adverse effects that weren't anticipated ? I don't know if any of the 3 at top were tested in animal trials, or whether the problems that *turned up later would have been caught with that type of testing. The ketogenic diet only works for a small percent of people (usually children because of high fat intake required to trigger ketosis), and is used for people where medications might be too strong, or which had failed. Keto for one, is not tried First usually, but after all else has failed.. /G.. Howdy! With such a small case study "results" don't impress me due to the fact that there is such a HUGE margine of error. Since we are only talking about 5 people, it is possible that these 5 particular people had ABNORMAL results. Results are one thing, conclusive evidence is another. SignatureDave ©¿© "Ego sum quis Ego sum quod ut est quicumque Ego sum" http://www.howdydave.com > Granted this was a small study, however the results were quite > dramatic. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > Patient 5 - Grand mal seizures before were 14 per week and after 3 > per week. > Granted this was a small study, however the results were quite > dramatic. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > Patient 5 - Grand mal seizures before were 14 per week and after 3 > per week. Here's a larger study (58 patients) that found that seizure reduction (fish oils) was temporary (less than 6 weeks), with no effect on generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Interestingly, the placebo group (non-fish oils) seemed to have a much greater reduction in seizure frequency. When the placebo group was placed on omega-3 their seizure frequency increased. Perhaps the non-fish oils should be investigated instead of omega-3s. 1: Epilepsy Behav. 2005 Sep;7(2):253-8. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in patients with chronic epilepsy: A randomized trial. Yuen AW, Sander JW, Fluegel D, Patsalos PN, Bell GS, Johnson T, Koepp MJ. Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK; National Society for Epilepsy, Chalfont St. Peter, UK. Animal studies and a preliminary clinical observation suggest that nutritional supplementation with long chain omega-3 fatty acids (omega-3 FAs) may be useful in the nonpharmacological treatment of patients with epilepsy. Omega-3 FAs increase seizure thresholds, and lower inflammatory mediators, which are increased in patients with epilepsy. In this first randomized, placebo-controlled parallel group trial of omega-3 FA supplementation with 1g eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 0.7g docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) daily, 57 patients completed a 12-week double-blind phase. Seizure frequency was reduced over the first 6 weeks of treatment in the supplement group, but this effect was not sustained. The supplementation produced a significant increase in EPA and DHA concentrations and a reciprocal fall in arachidonic and linoleic acid concentrations. No change in serum AED concentrations was detected. Further studies are required to examine different omega-3 FA preparations, different doses, longer treatment duration, and larger sample sizes. |
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