[Coleus]

Depressed? Consider Fish Oil

New research has found that people with depression who received a daily dose of 1 gram of an omega-3 fatty acid for 12 weeks experienced a decrease in their symptoms, such as sadness, anxiety and sleeping problems.

The only side effect of the treatment appeared to be mild gastrointestinal problems.
All the patients had already tried medications before enrolling in the study, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Zoloft or Prozac, or medications from an older family of drugs called tricyclic antidepressants. All the aforementioned drugs are considered standard treatments of depression.

Previous researchers have suggested that the balance of omega-3 fatty acids in the brain may become skewed in people with depression, and earlier studies have shown that fish oil supplements can help alleviate the symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, or manic depression.

But depression isn't the only disease that may be affected by a person's levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Researchers have found that those who have been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease and other conditions associated with depression, have low levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood.

The study included 70 depressed patients who took a daily dose of one to 4 grams of EPA or an inactive drug. The treatment lasted 12 weeks.

The doses were either 1 gram, 2 grams or 4 grams of EPA. Those who took 1 gram experienced improvements akin to those given the inactive drug, in all the measurable aspects of depression, including sadness, anxiety, low sexual drive and suicidal tendencies.

There was a significant improvement of those patients who took 1 gram of EPA daily: 69 percent of the patients achieved a 50 percent reduction in their symptoms, in contrast to those who took the inactive drug, where 25 percent of the patients saw improvement.

The higher-dosage groups saw similar improvements, but no higher improvement than those who took the 1 gram daily dose. The study's authors surmise that this result may have had to do with the fact that a small amount of people took the 2 or 4 grams per day. They advised further trials to determine the efficacy of higher doses of EPA in treatment of depression.

Archives of General Psychiatry October 2002; 59: 913-919

[Coleus]

Rude awakening: Poll finds kids severely lacking sleep

Tuesday, March 30, 2004BY ANGELA STEWART Star-Ledger Staff

America's children are significantly sleep-deprived and most of them wake up frequently at night, much to the dismay of their weary parents, a new poll out today shows.

The National Sleep Foundation's seventh annual Sleep in America poll is the first to focus on children. It shows that two-thirds of all children -- 69 percent -- experience one or more sleep problems at least a few times a week. Among the common problems noted are resisting going to bed, difficulty falling asleep, waking up, snoring and breathing difficulties.

Children in every age group are not meeting even the low end of experts' sleep recommendations, the poll found. And parents aren't as aware of the problem as they should be, the group said.

"It's a widespread problem. This study shows that we really don't think sleep is an important thing or we are not quite sure what to do about it," said Lauren Broch, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit Sleep Foundation in Washington, D.C., and associate director of the sleep center at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, N.Y.

Alan Backman, co-director of the Sleep Diagnostics Laboratory at Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills, said he is convinced that many children who have ended up with the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder are really suffering from sleep deprivation or sleep fragmentation.

"The numbers are frightening. We already have a sleep-deprived population. For kids to suffer like this places them at a severe disadvantage in terms of their academic achievements and otherwise," he said.

The poll, based on a random telephone survey of 1,473 adults with a child 10 or younger in their household, also found that:

• Nearly one-third of children 10 and younger wake up at least once a night needing attention, including 14 percent of school-age children.
• Parents of infants are awakened an average of four nights a week, resulting in the loss of more than 200 hours of sleep during the child's first year.
• About three of every four parents say they would change something about their child's sleep if they could.
• About one-quarter of infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers appear sleepy or overtired during the day, according to their parents.
• Many doctors, 52 percent, don't ask about a child's sleep habits.
• For older children, caffeine consumption and a television in the bedroom were identified as major sleep disrupters.

Broch said lifestyle issues such as children and parents having overly-booked schedules and eating out more often result in later bedtimes than in prior generations.

Even on weekends, children are not catching up on their sleep, the poll found. In fact, about one-quarter of pre-school and school-age children actually sleep less on weekends than on weekdays.

"It's not just on the parents, it's in the community, it's in the after-school activities and play dates. Everything can start piling on top of each other. The process of naturally winding down and going to sleep doesn't happen until much later," she said.

Indeed, many sleep problems in children arise from a failure on the part of parents to establish routines early in life that allow the child to fall asleep at a reasonable hour, said Kendall Sprott, director of community pediatrics at Children's Hospital of New Jersey at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. Parents also can unknowingly reinforce undesirable behaviors by playing with children or giving them food when they wake up in the middle of the night.

"I have found a lot of parents would rather continue the pattern of having their sleep interrupted than trying to get the child to change their patterns because it might be met with resistance like crying," he said.

Sometimes, children's sleep problems can be so serious that they require the attention of sleep specialists. For 8-year-old Dean Falkinburg of Barnegat, the sleep-walking that started about a year ago was really the first sign of a sleep disorder. When his mother, Vickie, 38, began to pay closer attention, she noticed her son would also stop breathing for what seemed like minutes at a time, ultimately ending up gasping for air, a condition known as sleep apnea. It was often accompanied by heavy snoring.

"I didn't even remember anything about getting up. It's a little scary for me because I would go down the stairs and I could have tripped," said Dean, an articulate second-grader, who is now being treated for his sleep problems at Deborah.

When it comes to most sleep issues in children, however, parents would be amazed to learn how much power they have to affect change themselves, said Ashish Shah. A pediatric pulmonologist, Shah oversees the pediatric sleep laboratory at Morristown Memorial Hospital. When parents bring a sick child into their bed, for instance, the child begins to expect more of the same, even when he or she returns to health, Shah said.

"Common sense is the rule," he said.

Angela Stewart writes about health care. She can be reached at astewart@starledger.com  or (973) 392-4178.