Posted by lissa on June 24, 2001, at 21:44:13
In reply to Omega-3 fish oil in psychiatry., posted by eoflaherty on June 24, 2001, at 17:24:15
I've been keeping up with the research on this too. For me, the fish oil did not work well, but I am glad you and your patients have found such success with it. Congratulations.
My question for you is maybe a little off-topic. Not being a scientist or doctor, I am just wondering how researchers come up with these hypotheses. To say that the reason fish oil works is because our ancestors lived by the sea; to say they have lower incidences of mental disorders and some forms of cancer is because they eat fish; for an African doctor to travel to New York and hypothesize that his subsequent depression was caused by changes in light -- well, it all seems far-fetched to me and I wonder how they get funding. I'm not mocking their efforts, sometimes I guess this is how science works.
As for me, I find my moods correlate highly with changes in barometric pressure. If I were to hypothesize about the Japanese, then, say, I'd say they have lower incidences of mental disorders because most live at low altitude near the coast where the barometric pressure tends to be higher (I correlate low and falling pressure with low moods and rising and high pressure with better moods) ... So, yeah, that's what I might say, but it would still be really, really far-fetched. If I were really a scientist, do you think I could present this as a hypothesis, be taken seriously by my colleagues, and get funding? It seems so bizarre to me.
Well, however it is that the fish oil is helping your patients is not the issue here. I'm glad it is helping and that you have so astutely kept up with the research for their benefit.
Best Wishes,
Lissa
poster:lissa
thread:67716
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010618/msgs/67749.html