New research shows significant benefits from fatty acid supplement for children with dyslexia and behavioural problems
New research shows significant benefits from fatty acid supplement for children with dyslexia and behavioural problems
An exciting new study has shown that a fatty acid supplement can lead to significant improvements for children with dyslexia and behavioural problems(ADHD).
The nutritional supplement, Efalex[1], was given to a group of 8 to 12 year olds attending a special school in Northern Ireland. Another group at the same school was given a placebo. There were no improvements in the placebo group after 12 weeks, but the researchers found significant improvements in the behaviour and cognitive abilities of the group using the supplement.
The results are published in the latestedition of Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biology Psychiatry (Vol. 26, 2002, pp. 233-9). They could lead to a radical change in the way children with ADHD are treated in future.
The 41 children involved in the study were randomly allocated to one of the two groups. One group received placebo (dummy pills) and the other received the supplement, for 12 weeks. As in all double-blind studies, no one concerned with the study (the children, their parents or the experimenters) knew who was taking the supplement or the placebo until after the results had been analysed.
Before and after three months supplementation, the children were assessed across a range of behavioural and learning problems, using the Conners' Parent Rating Scales.
In the placebo group, there were no improvements over the 12-week period and,indeed, there was a "significant" deterioration in the Conners' index.
Conversely, the Efalex group improved "significantly" in four standard measures for ADHD. Improvements were also found in three ADHD subscales, including cognitive problems and anxious/shy. The reduction on the anxious/shy subscale is particularly interesting because all the children attended a school providing excellent understanding and support, but only the children who received the supplement improved on this measure.
The authors, Alexandra J. Richardson and Basant K. Puri, point out that not all supplements have been shown to be effective in the past but conclude that the fatty acid supplement used in this study "appears to offer significant benefits in alleviating many ADHD-related symptoms in children with specific learning difficulties (dyslexia)".
Dr Jackie Stordy, a leading researcher in this field, who has carried out previously published studies into the benefits of fatty acids, said: "This new research provides the strongest evidence yet that some fatty acid supplements can provide enormous benefit to children with specific learning difficulties."
Children with ADHD have been shown to have lower amounts of certain fatty acids in blood plasma – arachidonic acid (AA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA); and in their red blood cell membranes, DHA and AA. It is thought these red blood cell membranes are a guide to what is happening in nerve cells in the brain. The supplement tested provides the missing fatty acids in a formulation based on high-DHA fish oil including EPA and AA.
Supplementation with formulations including the fatty acids DHA, AA and EPA has previously been shown to be beneficial in open studies, but no double-blind,placebo-controlled studies have been published before. Previous open studies have identified that certain visual problems in dyslexia are reduced following supplementation with high DHA fish oils (Stordy, 2000), and that symptoms of ADHD in children with dyspraxia were reduced following high DHA fish oil/evening primrose oil supplementation (Stordy, 1999).
For more information please contact JoRiceor Matt Steele, Tel: (office)0207 544 0016.
Note
- 1.
The supplement used in this study was Nutricia Efalex supplied by Nutricia Ltd.
