Federal researchers have found further evidence of a link between nutrition and military suicides, which increasingly have plagued the U.S. armed forces over the past decade.
In a study published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, the researchers concluded that low levels of highly unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids corresponded with a higher rate of suicides. The scientists found a particularly strong association between the military suicides and levels of DHA, or docosahexaenoic acid, the major omega-3 fatty acid concentrated in the brain.
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential nutrients that the body doesn’t produce, so they come from food, often seafood. Millions of Americans also take fish oil dietary supplements to boost their consumption of the fatty acids.
According to a news release from the National Institutes of Health, researchers compared levels of omega-3 fatty acids among 800 suicide victims who were on active duty between 2002 and 2008 with those of 800 randomly selected members of the military. Soliders with the low levels of DHA were found to be 62 percent more likely to be suicide victims.
The new study builds on earlier research that associated low levels of omega-3 fats, or low consumption of seafood, with suicide or thoughts of suicide, as well as depression. Some studies also have reported that supplemental DHA reduces anxiety and depression.
“Our findings add to an extensive body of research that points to a fundamental role for DHA and other omega-3 fatty acids in protecting against mental health problems and suicide risks,” Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, one of the leaders of the study and an official with the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, said in the news release.
Still, the study’s authors said more research is needed to clarify the role that DHA, or omega-3 fatty acids in general, play in suicides.
As the Los Angeles Times reports, military suicides have risen steadily since 2001, many of them involving Army soldiers and Marines who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The suicides reached a crisis point in 2008, when more than 20 of every 100,000 servicemen and women –roughly twice the national average — took their own lives. Last year, 295 active-duty military personnel committed suicide.
STUART SILVERSTEIN
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B***sh*t!!! That’s what the government wants us to believe so as not to have any culpability. It couldn’t possible be what the goverment, leaders, etc put our soldiers thru….no way….SOOO the Gov’t had an expensive “study” done,,,because they can afford that…to prove themselves correct…Is anyone else swallowing this crap?