3 ms·

This is exciting, and should be fairly easy to confirm/deny with a double blind trial in humans. There's no money to be had in it for big pharma, so funding it

This is exciting, and should be fairly easy to confirm/deny with a double blind trial in humans. There's no money to be had in it for big pharma, so funding it would have to come from some other means, but it should be possible.

setting1855 2y ago
as opposed to supplement studies in mice, which are notoriously lucrative
- brokensegue 2y ago
  they are cheaper
- elromulous 2y ago
  As the other comment mentions, mouse studies are hilariously cheap compared to human trials. We're talking many orders of magnitude. A couple grad students can do a mouse study at costs very much approaching zero.
nosefurhairdo 2y ago
There's already research on Omega 3 supplementation's impact on depression + anxiety symptoms in humans. The results generally show that Omega 3 is roughly as effective as antidepressants, and can be safely taken in addition to antidepressants for an even greater effect.
- petesergeant 2y ago
  Examine.com summary: > Fish oil supplementation has been noted to be comparable to pharmaceutical drugs (fluoxetine) in majorly depressed persons, but this may be the only cohort that experiences a reduction of depression. There is insufficient evidence to support a reduction of depressive symptoms in persons with minor depression (ie. not diagnosed major depressive disorder) They give it a B for the research and an effect size of moderate improvement. Also a B with a small effect size for anxiety. https://examine.com/supplements/fish-oil https://examine.com/supplements/fish-oil I’d note it also says: > A meta-analysis of 35 small, randomized trials found that fish oil can slightly improve depression when compared to control. However, this improvement may be too small to be noticeable. Also, adding fish oil to antidepressant medication seems to be more beneficial than antidepressant treatment alone In short, sounds like it’s worth throwing in as an adjunct treatment for people wanting to take a kitchen sink approach
  - jaggederest 2y ago
    > They give it a B for the research and an effect size of moderate improvement. Also a B with a small effect size for anxiety To be fair, this is among the most highly rated things on the entire site - let not the "B" scare you off. A moderate effect size is pretty substantial, all things considered.
RobotToaster 2y ago
> There's no money to be had in it for big pharma IIRC there's several patent medicine versions of omega 3 such as icosapent ethyl

setting1855 2y ago

as opposed to supplement studies in mice, which are notoriously lucrative

brokensegue 2y ago
they are cheaper
elromulous 2y ago
As the other comment mentions, mouse studies are hilariously cheap compared to human trials. We're talking many orders of magnitude. A couple grad students can do a mouse study at costs very much approaching zero.

nosefurhairdo 2y ago

There's already research on Omega 3 supplementation's impact on depression + anxiety symptoms in humans. The results generally show that Omega 3 is roughly as effective as antidepressants, and can be safely taken in addition to antidepressants for an even greater effect.

petesergeant 2y ago
Examine.com summary: > Fish oil supplementation has been noted to be comparable to pharmaceutical drugs (fluoxetine) in majorly depressed persons, but this may be the only cohort that experiences a reduction of depression. There is insufficient evidence to support a reduction of depressive symptoms in persons with minor depression (ie. not diagnosed major depressive disorder) They give it a B for the research and an effect size of moderate improvement. Also a B with a small effect size for anxiety. https://examine.com/supplements/fish-oil https://examine.com/supplements/fish-oil I’d note it also says: > A meta-analysis of 35 small, randomized trials found that fish oil can slightly improve depression when compared to control. However, this improvement may be too small to be noticeable. Also, adding fish oil to antidepressant medication seems to be more beneficial than antidepressant treatment alone In short, sounds like it’s worth throwing in as an adjunct treatment for people wanting to take a kitchen sink approach
- jaggederest 2y ago
  > They give it a B for the research and an effect size of moderate improvement. Also a B with a small effect size for anxiety To be fair, this is among the most highly rated things on the entire site - let not the "B" scare you off. A moderate effect size is pretty substantial, all things considered.

RobotToaster 2y ago

> There's no money to be had in it for big pharma IIRC there's several patent medicine versions of omega 3 such as icosapent ethyl