Head trauma: help from Omega 3 fish oil

Omega-3s protect against brain damage. Demonstrating the potential of these fatty acids in preventing the damaging effects that head trauma can have on the brain is a study published in the journal Neurosurgery, conducted by researchers at West Viriginia University in Morgantown (United States).

In particular, it is the use ofOmega-3 DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) that shows the protective effects against brain trauma. In fact, according to the authors of the research, intake of DHA increases its levels in serum, and if it is prior to a head injury, it reduces the injury response. From rats to athletes, here are the benefits of DHA The researchers gave separate groups of rats different doses of DHA, amounting to 0, 3, 12 or 40 mg per kg body weight of Omega-3 per day, for the 30 days prior to the induction of a head injury. The results were surprising: in fact, the animals that had received the higher amount of DHA showed a significantly reduced level of brain tissue damage compared to the other rats. The damage was measured in terms of the level of beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP), an anatomical indicator of brain damage. 

In rats that took 40 mg/kg DHA daily, APP values were almost 6 times lower than those measured in animals that did not take theomega-3 fatty acid. Not only that, lower expression of certain biological markers associated with brain cell death-specifically, caspase-3 protein and macrophages, cells involved in the immune response-and a reduction in the negative effects of brain damage on behavior were also found in the research. The authors point out that these findings have important public health implications. In fact,preventive intake of DHA could protect individuals exposed to high risk of head injury from the acute effects of severe blows received by the brain. Therefore, the use of DHA could be recommended for those who, such as military personnel or athletes who participate in contact sports, are more likely to be victims of head injury.

Source 

Mills JD, Hadley K, Bailes JE, "Dietary Supplementation With the Omega-3 Fatty Acid Docosahexaenoic Acid in Traumatic Brain Injury?", Neurosurgery 2011 Feb;68(2):474-81; discussion 481