Membrane omega-3 Fatty Acid deficiency as a preventable risk factor for comorbid coronary heart disease in major depressive disorder.

Membrane omega-3 Fatty Acid deficiency as a preventable risk factor for comorbid coronary heart disease in major depressive disorder. Cardiovasc Psychiatry Neurol. 2009;2009:362795 Authors: McNamara RK Abstract Major depression disorder (MDD) significantly increases the risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) which is a leading cause of mortality in patients with MDD. Moreover, depression is frequently observed in a subset of patients following acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and increases risk for mortality. Here evidence implicating omega-3 (n-3) fatty acid deficiency in the pathoaetiology of CHD and MDD is reviewed, and the hypothesis that n-3 fatty acid deficiency is a preventable risk factor for CHD comorbidity in MDD patients is evaluated. This hypothesis is supported by cross-national and cross-sectional epidemiological surveys finding an inverse correlation between n-3 fatty acid status and prevalence rates of both CHD and MDD, prospective studies finding that lower dietary or membrane EPA+DHA levels increase risk for both MDD and CHD, case-control studies finding that the n-3 fatty acid status of MDD patients places them at high risk for emergent CHD morbidity and mortality, meta-analyses of controlled n-3 fatty acid intervention studies finding significant advantage over placebo for reducing depression symptom severity in MDD patients, and for secondary prevention of cardiac events in CHD patients, findings that n-3 fatty acid ...
Source: Cardiovascular Psychiatry and Neurology - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Cardiovasc Psychiatry Neurol Source Type: research