Ethyl EPA for depression
Ethyl-EPA is a pure form of Eicosapentaenoic acid or EPA which doesn't contain any other essential fatty acids. It is one of the esential fatty acids that is commonly found in fish oil. The other one is docosahexaenoic acid or DHA. Doctors have determined that EPA is the ingredient in fish oil most responsible for aleviating depression.
Professor Basant K. Puri is a leading proponent of treating depression with ethyl EPA. Professor Puri's experience as a Consultant in Psychiatry and Imaging at Hammersmith Hospital and Imperial College London makes him a trusted authority.
Studies on EPA for Depression
Puri's research advanced the work of doctors Joseph Hibbeln and David Horrobin that suggested depression might be the result of lacking essential and vital fatty acids in the brain. While performing research about schzophrenia professor Puri and his colleagues noticed that in patients who suffered from both depression and schizophrenia, both the depression symptoms and schizophrenia responded well to EPA.
A Scottish study by doctors Peet and Horrobin showed patients who took EPA in addition to their already prescribed medication showed significant improvements after four weeks.
An Israeli study by doctors Boris Nemets and Ziva Stahl was similar to the Scottish study. Patients were already prescribed antidepressant medication. They began taking EPA in addition to their existing meds. Significant improvements were shown after three weeks of treatment.
Why EPA and not antidepressant drugs?
The professor and his colleagues found that treating depression with EPA worked as well and sometimes better than the standard antidepressant drugs. In addition, this treatment lacked any of the negative side affects commonly experienced with drug treatments.
Professor Puri's conclusions are based on scientific research, trials and clinical experience carried out by him in addition to other doctors and scientists.
Professor Puri has co-authored a great book "The Natural Way to Beat Depression