Dr Barry Sears

Treatment of Neurological
Disorders Using High-Dose
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
 Disclosures
• I am a consultant to Enerzona in
Europe

• I own a medical foods company

(Zone Labs) in the United States

• I am the trustee of a medical

research foundation that supports
clinical studies
Underlying Cause
of Chronic Illness

• Increased Inflammation
What is Inflammation?

• Ancient Greeks
– Internal Fire
• Ancient Romans
– Heat
– Pain
– Swelling
– Redness
Events That Turn On
Inflammatory Responses

• Microbial invasion

• Injuries

• Diet
 Two Types of
Inflammation

• “Hot” Pain
– Organ or joint damage

• “Cold” Pain
– Cellular inflammation
 Measuring Cellular
Inflammation

• High sensitivity C-reactive protein

– Non-specific
– Highly variable due to infection

• AA/EPA Ratio
– Most precise marker of eicosanoid
precursors at cellular level
– Highly reliable
 Phases of
Inflammation
Initiating Event

Pro-inflammatory Attack Response

Cellular Destruction

Anti-Inflammatory Resolution Response

Cellular Healing
 Long-Chain Omega 6 Fatty Acid-Arachidonic Acid (AA)

COOH

Long-Chain Omega 3 Fatty Acid-Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA)

COOH
 The Primary
Eicosanoid Players
• Pro-inflammatory
– Prostaglandins
– Leukotrienes

• Anti-inflammatory
– Resolvins
Typical AA/EPA Ratios

Japanese 1.5

Americans 19

Depression 25

ADHD 30

Brain Trauma 40
What Causes Cellular
Inflammation?
The Perfect
Nutritional Storm
• Increased Omega-6 Consumption

• Increased Refined Carbohydrate

Consumption

• Decreased Omega-3 Consumption

• Decreased Polyphenol Consumption

 Why High-Dose Omega-
3 Fatty Acids
for the Brain?
• Slow passage of fatty acids
through blood-brain barrier
– Brain can’t make AA, DHA, or EPA

• Differential fatty acid turnover

– AA half-life: 2.5 years
– DHA half-life: 2.5 years
– EPA half-life: 2 weeks
 How Much Omega-3
Fats Do You Need?

Maintenance of Wellness 2.5 g/day

Treat Obesity, Diabetes, CHD 5 g/day

Treat Chronic Pain 7.5 g/day

Treat Neurological Disease >10 g/day

Types of Fish Oil
• Fish
– Potential contamination with PCB and Hg
– Higher in AA than fish oil
• Crude fish oil
– High contamination
• Health food grade
– Still contaminated with PCB’s
• Ultra-refined EPA/DHA Concentrates
– “Weapons-grade” fish oil
– Can be used in high-dose, long-term
applications
 Requirements for Weapons-
Grade Fish Oil

Total Long-Chain Omega-3 > 60%

Dioxins <  1 ppt

Mercury < 10 ppb

PCB’s < 5 ppb
Mild Brain Trauma
2005 MVP of Major
League Soccer
 AA/EPA Ratio Can
Change Rapidly In
Concussion Patients
• Pre-Treatment (11-23-10)
– AA/EPA ratio = 41

• Post-Treatment (1-20-11)
– AA/EPA ratio =3
 Traumatic Brain Injury

• Leading cause of death and lifelong disability

among children and young adults in the United
States

• 1.5 million Americans survive a traumatic

brain injury, among whom approximately
230,000 are hospitalized

• 50,000 Americans die each year following

traumatic brain injury
Medical Miracle or
High-Dose Fish Oil?
 Results to Date
26 M WV Coal miner CO Coma Recovered

40 M TX Firefighter CO Coma Recovered

12 M NY Baseball player Commotio Coma Recovered

cordis Cardiac
arrest
40 M KY Firefighter CO Coma Recovered

29 M WV Logger CHI Coma Recovered

43 F NY Childbirth Anoxia Coma Recovered

55 F FL Stroke Ischemia Coma Recovered

 Other Neurological
Conditions Treated By
High-Dose Fish Oil
Cerebral Blood Flow in
ADHD Can Be Altered By
High Dose Fish Oil

Before

After
Effect of High-Dose
Fish Oil on ADHD
AA/EPA Ratio

35

30

• Improvement
101
25 102
103
20 104
106
15 107

is rapid
108
10 109
110
5

0
aaepa_1 aaepa2 aaepa3

• Must be
continued to
Clinical Global Impression

maintain
5
101
102
4
103
104
3 106

benefits
107
108
2
109
110
1

0
psoi mglob_im fglob

Sorgi et al Nutrition J 6:16 (2007)

ADHD Improvement Is
Correlated with AA/EPA Ratio

p =.007

Sorgi et al Nutrition J 6:16 (2007)

Bipolar Depression
Can Be Treated with
High-Dose Fish Oil
• 9.6 grams of n-3 per day

• 500% greater remission in 3

months

Stoll et al Arch Gen Psychiatry 56: 407 (1999)

Multiple Sclerosis
Disability Can Be
Reversed

Start 2 Year

AA/EPA 6 1.5

Disability Status 2.2 1.6*

* p < 0.005

Nordvik et al Acta Neurol Scand 102:143 (2000)

 Summary
• Cellular inflammation is an underlying
cause of neurological disease
• It can be rapidly reduced by high-
dose omega-3 fatty acids
• AA/EPA ratio allows you fine-tune the
inflammatory response
• You can’t rebuild your brain until you
put out the inflammatory fire