Omega-3 for treating ADHD

Omega fatty acids are an effective and safe treatment for children with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD. Omegas, found in oily fish, are important for brain health and learning low intakes have been linked with poor social behavior and communication. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulty maintaining attention, impulsive behavior and extreme hyperactivity.

The research also found that supplements with a specific ratio of certain essential fatty acids were the most beneficial. Children with ADHD have lower fatty acid levels in their blood than those without the condition. This review looked at randomized controlled trials (RCT) – the gold standard of human studies - which compared fatty acid supplementation against a placebo in children diagnosed with ADHD.

The debilitating disorder affects children's daily ability to function, learn, and interact with peers. And at present, families have very limited options for what they can do at home to improve their child's behavior and learning as most specialized diets are ineffective. A supplement, Equazen, which provides a 9:3:1 ratio of eicosapentaenoic acid EPA, docosahexaenoic acid DHA and gamma linolenic acid, is the most effective at improving blood levels of these acids.

Children with ADHD have lower fatty acid levels in their blood compared with children without the condition. As a result, fatty acid supplements, with the 9:3:1 ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids provides a valuable, effective and safe option for parents who want to do more to help their children manage their ADHD symptoms and improve their ability to learn.
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Brain stimulation may help people suffering from schizophrenia

Brain stimulation therapies involve activating or inhibiting the brain directly with electricity. It could be used to treat cognitive deficits frequently associated with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder characterised by abnormal social behavior. This can make it difficult for affected people to plan, focus, pay attention and remember information.

Problems in short-term memory and decision making, which are often severely impaired in people with schizophrenia can be corrected by brain stimulation.

Researchers used neuromodulation - transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) - to check if they could correct some of these cognitive deficit in people with schizophrenia.

The researchers applied tDCS with tasks which specifically tapped into 'working memory' and ' executive functioning ': the principle was that 'training' the brain in regions that are typically poorly performing in schizophrenia would be enhanced by the brain stimulation technique.

An improvement in cognitive performance was discovered in those who had tDCS brain stimulation after 24 hours. This shows that changes in the
brain cells induced by neuromodulation may take some time to occur.

The researchers also ran brain imaging analyses to determine what was happening in the brain as these changes occurred. They discovered that tDCS was linked with changes in brain activity in regions associated with working memory and cerebellum.
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