Word: fish
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...comes from omega-3s, but by comparison, only about 0.2% to 0.35% of the total fatty acids in breast milk and infant formulas come from omega-3s. So, it makes sense that supplementing preemies' diets with omega-3 fatty acids, the same brain-boosting oils found in deep-ocean fish such as tuna and salmon, would improve their scores on cognitive tests...
...these findings reason enough to ask mothers of premature girls to start popping fish-oil capsules? Probably not, says Dr. David Adamkin, director of neonatal medicine at University of Louisville. "This study looks at giving babies nutrients that we know they don't get enough of in utero because they are born too early," he says. "While an 18-month follow up is okay, an eight-year follow up is going to be much better. We need more time to see if these differences are really going to persist...
...also worth remembering, says Adamkin, that some fish-oil capsules may contain mercury, which can actually deter brain development in children, and some studies have shown that too much omega-3 can retard kids' language development. It's also not clear from the current study exactly how much additional omega-3 is actually needed to see a benefit; while Makrides's study targeted the amounts a third-trimester fetus might receive, it's possible that the same brain benefits may accrue with less supplementation, or that more benefits may be gained by increasing the dose...
Even without answers to these questions, the neonatal unit in the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide is already changing its policies, and giving mothers of premature girls omega-3 capsules through the hospital pharmacy. Makrides says that fish-oil capsules in Australia are stripped of mercury or pesticide residues by law, and so far, taking omega-3 does not seem to have produced any side effects, in either mother or child...
...mothers in Makrides' study have been eager to comply with the fish-oil supplementation program. "Women of premature babies tend to be more motivated than the general public to take action because they have a sick, premature baby, and anything they feel they can do to help this baby, they will do," she says. And that includes taking a half dozen fish oil capsules...