Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, is the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder in children. The diagnosis affects approximately 3-5% of school-going children. Studies have established that certain long-chained fatty acids are critical for normal brain development. Additional studies have show that deficiencies or imbalances in these fatty acids contribute to ADHD.
Fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid or DHA and eicosapentanoic acid or EPA, are key for normal brain development and found in large amounts in fish oil. Alpha linolenic acid, or ALA, is a precursor fatty acid to DHA and is found in large amounts in flax seed oil. Children can convert ALA to DHA, but the conversion is dependent on adequate amounts of ALA and a low level of linoleic acid, or LA, in the diet. LA is found in large amounts in corn, safflower, sunflower, and canola oils.
A study in the January 2006 issue of the journal Prostaglandins,
Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids, examined 30 children diagnosed with ADHD along with 30 healthy control children. They were given flax oil supplements containing 200 mg of ALA along with 25 mg of vitamin C two times a day for 3 months. A trained clinical psychologist analyzed the children’s behavior before and after the 3 months. The children's blood cells were also analyzed before and after the supplementation to determine the change in fatty acids.
It was found that at the end of the 3 months there was a “significant increase” in the levels of both EPA and DHA. All ADHD measures were improved after the 3 months. “Individual scores of Inattention, Impulsivity, Restlessness and Self-Control reduced significantly post-supplementation. SI [social problems] and I [learning problems] scores constituting RPS [Related Problem Score] were found to be significantly decreasing in the post-supplementation group.”
All the children in the enrolled study completed the 3 months of
supplementation with no dropouts. The supplements were well accepted by all the children and there were no side effects.
The authors conclude that, “All the symptoms like impulsivity,
restlessness, inattention, self-control, psychosomatic problems and
learning problems showed highly significant improvement. Social problems and learning problems together constituted-related problems score also dropped significantly. There is considerable evidence that polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation brought about improvement in educational and behavioral problems among children with developmental coordination disorder and reduction in ADHD-related symptoms.”
SOURCE: Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids, January 2006