The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments

    How might omega-3 improve mood?

    Of course we don’t know for sure if it does improve mood, but just in case, Dr. Sarah Conklin from the department of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh has a possible mechanism.

    She presented the results of this study during the American Psychosomatic Society’s Annual Meeting in Budapest, Hungary.

    • 55 healthy adults were interviewed to determine their average intake of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids.
    • Grey matter volume in the brain was evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

    Adults with higher levels of long-chain omega-3 fatty acid in their diet had higher volumes of grey matter in areas of the brain associated with emotional arousal and regulation — the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, the right amygdala, and the right hippocampus.

    These are the same areas where grey matter is reduced in people with mood disorders such as major depressive disorder.

    The bottom line?
    Interesting, but variability in the results of studies in humans suggest it’s not the entire story.

    3/30/07 19:42 JR

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