Contents:
- Medical Video: 10 CRAZIEST Diet Trends EVER
- What is epilepsy?
- Is it true that drinking fish oil can prevent seizures?
- How can drinking fish oil prevent seizures?
- The importance of estrogen to prevent seizures
- So, people with epilepsy should also drink fish oil
Medical Video: 10 CRAZIEST Diet Trends EVER
The abundant fatty acid content in fish oil is apparently useful as a new treatment for epilepsy. Researchers found that drinking fish oil can reduce the incidence of seizures in experiments with mice. What's more, experts reveal that the docosahexaenoic acid compound (abbreviated as DHA) contained in fish oil has an important role in preventing seizures. You can see more information below.
What is epilepsy?
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by spontaneous and recurrent seizures. This seizure is triggered by a surge in electrical signals between brain nerve cells (also called neurons).
At present there are drugs to prevent epileptic seizures. The drug must be consumed regularly, according to a predetermined schedule.
Is it true that drinking fish oil can prevent seizures?
Previous research has shown that epilepsy attacks can be reduced by DHA, namely fatty acids omega-3 which can be found in fish oil or fat such as salmon, herring, and also in the form of fish oil supplements.
In addition to DHA, it turns out natural hormones in the human body, namely estrogen, also has an important role to prevent seizures. The production of the hormone estrogen will increase if you consume enough DHA.
By knowing that estrogen and DHA have the potential to prevent seizures, experts conduct research to determine whether there might be a connection between the two.
How can drinking fish oil prevent seizures?
The researchers conducted a study by testing three diets with the main ingredients of oil in three groups of mice for 28 days. The first group was given food containing soybean oil. The second group was given food containing cotton seed oil. While the last group was given foods containing cotton seed oil plus DHA supplements.
These three diets are chosen because the amount of DHA content in each natural ingredient varies. For example, the body will produce more DHA from soybean oil compared to cotton seed oil.
After 28 days, each group of mice was given a drug to trigger seizures. The researchers found that the group given food containing soybean oil could delay the occurrence of seizures longer than the group of rats given only cotton seed oil.
The duration of seizures was also shorter in the group of mice given food containing soybean oil.
However, groups of mice fed foods containing cottonseed oil and added DHA supplements could delay seizures for the longest time compared to other groups of mice. This finding confirms that DHA intake from food plays an important role in preventing seizures.
The importance of estrogen to prevent seizures
Next, the team of experts measured estrogen levels in the brain in each group of mice. They found that estrogen levels in the brains of mice fed foods containing soybean oil were twice as high as rats fed only with cotton seed oil.
Interestingly, mice fed foods containing cottonseed oil and added DHA supplements had the highest levels of brain estrogen among other groups of mice. From these findings, the researchers believe that DHA greatly affects estrogen production in the brain, which will then play a role in preventing seizures.
The research team then proved the theory by giving estrogen suppressants to mice. They found that groups of mice given estrogen suppressants experienced faster seizures than those not given the drug.
So, people with epilepsy should also drink fish oil
This study was indeed carried out with rat subjects. However, due to the similarity of the genetic structure between mice and humans, experts concluded that the effects of DHA in fish oil would also be the same in humans who have epilepsy.
However, that does not mean drinking fish oil can replace antiepileptic drugs or anticonvulsants that have been prescribed by your doctor. Consult your doctor first, how you can drink fish oil alongside your antiepileptic drug. For example, how many doses are needed or the drink schedule.
