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Omega-3 Fatty Acids in the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders

Overview of attention for article published in Drugs, October 2012
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • Among the highest-scoring outputs from this source (#41 of 3,471)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (98th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (99th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
5 news outlets
blogs
2 blogs
policy
1 policy source
twitter
13 X users
patent
1 patent
facebook
3 Facebook pages
wikipedia
2 Wikipedia pages
video
1 YouTube creator

Citations

dimensions_citation
199 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
215 Mendeley
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Title
Omega-3 Fatty Acids in the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders
Published in
Drugs, October 2012
DOI 10.2165/00003495-200565080-00002
Pubmed ID
Authors

Malcolm Peet, Caroline Stokes

Abstract

The importance of omega-3 fatty acids for physical health is now well recognised and there is increasing evidence that omega-3 fatty acids may also be important to mental health. The two main omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) have important biological functions in the CNS. DHA is a major structural component of neuronal membranes, and changing the fatty acid composition of neuronal membranes leads to functional changes in the activity of receptors and other proteins embedded in the membrane phospholipid. EPA has important physiological functions that can affect neuronal activity. Epidemiological studies indicate an association between depression and low dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids, and biochemical studies have shown reduced levels of omega-3 fatty acids in red blood cell membranes in both depressive and schizophrenic patients. Five of six double-blind, placebo-controlled trials in schizophrenia, and four of six such trials in depression, have reported therapeutic benefit from omega-3 fatty acids in either the primary or secondary statistical analysis, particularly when EPA is added on to existing psychotropic medication. Individual clinical trials have suggested benefits of EPA treatment in borderline personality disorder and of combined omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The evidence to date supports the adjunctive use of omega-3 fatty acids in the management of treatment unresponsive depression and schizophrenia. As these conditions are associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease and diabetes mellitus, omega-3 fatty acids should also benefit the physical state of these patients. However, as the clinical research evidence is preliminary, large, and definitive randomised controlled trials similar to those required for the licensing of any new pharmacological treatment are needed.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 13 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 215 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Portugal 1 <1%
Netherlands 1 <1%
Ghana 1 <1%
Canada 1 <1%
Japan 1 <1%
United States 1 <1%
Unknown 209 97%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Bachelor 39 18%
Student > Ph. D. Student 34 16%
Researcher 30 14%
Student > Master 28 13%
Student > Doctoral Student 12 6%
Other 41 19%
Unknown 31 14%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 51 24%
Psychology 31 14%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 30 14%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 12 6%
Chemistry 9 4%
Other 40 19%
Unknown 42 20%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 80. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 07 December 2023.
All research outputs
#535,642
of 25,436,226 outputs
Outputs from Drugs
#41
of 3,471 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#2,866
of 192,770 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Drugs
#12
of 1,805 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,436,226 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,471 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.9. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 192,770 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 1,805 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.