The findings may be ground-breaking, but they come as a huge disappointment to the patients as well as to the medical fraternity.
"Unfortunately, it's not where we wanted to be. We were kind of disappointed, to say the least," said study author Robert M. Carney, a professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Study of patients with coronary diseases
For the purpose of the study, researchers examined 122 patients with coronary diseases. All these participants also took 50 milligrams of Zoloft to treat their depression
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Some of these patients were administered 2 grams a day of omega-3 fatty acid supplements to check if they could enhance the efficacy of the Zoloft. The others were given a corn-oil placebo capsule.
After two and a half months of follow up, the researchers established that both groups, the one administered omega-3 fatty acid supplements and also the one only on Zoloft, had about the same level of improvement in their depression symptoms.
Results contradictory to previous studies
The findings of the present research contradict previous studies, which propose that taking omega-3 fatty acids enhanced long-term survival.
The researchers, however, did not examine if giving higher doses of omega-3 fatty acid could result in a noticeable improvement in depression symptoms. Altering any variables, amount of Zoloft, dose of fish oil, form of fish oil or duration of treatment, may lead to positive results.
Carney noted that antidepressants, in general, had the same effect in people with both depression and heart problems and people with depression only.
"The problem, from our point of view, is that that's just not good enough. It's definitely better than placebo, better than doing nothing. We're trying to find a treatment or combination of treatments that's going to significantly improve the depression outcome," researchers wrote.
Dr. John Erwin III, professor of internal medicine at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, and senior staff cardiologist with Scott & White Hospital in Temple noted that fish oil is effectively used to reduce triglyceride levels.
“I wouldn't encourage people who are taking fish oil caplets to stop it now because of this study. It just means we have a little bit more work to do on the depression side of things," advised Erwin.
The findings of the study have been published in the Oct. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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