| Pregnant
women may be able to reduce risk for postpartum depression with a
fatty acid-rich diet Pregnant women may be able to reduce risk for postpartum depression and improve the neurological development of their babies by increasing consumption of the essential fatty acid called docohexaenoic acid, or DHA, according to a presentation at the 223rd national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. According to presenter David Kyle, Ph.D., approximately 15 to 20 percent of women who give birth in the United States develop postpartum depression. "We believe that the high incidence of postpartum depression in the United States may be triggered by a low dietary intake of docohexaenoic acid," he said. Kyle is the U.S. director of the Mother and Child Foundation, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to studying the importance of the nutrition of mothers and its effects on their babies. Although the fatty acid has been recognized as beneficial for infants and small children, there is much less public awareness of the apparent link between the fatty acid and postpartum depression in mothers, according to Kyle. He described a number of independent studies that appear to verify this correlation, and he urged that more attention be given to the role of docohexaenoic acid in pregnant and lactating women. Kyle noted a study at the National Institutes of Health that found a "highly statistically significant inverse correlation" between intake of fatty acid and incidence of clinical depression. "The higher the intake [of DHA], the lower the incidence of depression," Kyle emphasized. That study was published in Lancet in 1998. Kyle also pointed out that a more recent study by the same research group has "found exactly the same correlation" between the incidence of postpartum depression and levels of fatty acid found in breast milk. The more recent work specifically looked at docohexaenoic acid level in breast milk rather than dietary intake and evaluated level relative to incidence of postpartum depression rather than overall clinical depression. This second study was first presented in 2001 at a meeting of the American Psychological Association. A Dutch study cited by the presenter found that during pregnancy the placenta pumps fatty acid from mother to fetus, thus depleting the woman's fatty acid level and potentially making her more susceptible to postpartum depression. That 1997 study was done by Gerrard Hornstra, Ph.D., of Maastricht University. Kyle noted that American women typically consume about 40 to 50 milligrams of docohexaenoic acid in their daily diets compared with about 200 milligrams for Europeans and about 600 milligrams for Japanese women. "The [DHA] content of mother's milk in the United States is among the lowest in the world," Kyle said. Kyle recommends that
women who want to increase their own levels can either take dietary
supplements, which are available in grocery stores and pharmacies,
or eat grilled, broiled or baked fish. |