AAD - Patented fish oil and borage oil blend significantly improves language and learning skills in challenged children
Patrick L, Salik R. The effect of essential fatty acid supplementation on language development and learning skills in autism and Aspergers syndrome. Autism-Aspergers Digest Jan/Feb 2005:36-37Introduction:
Fish oil provides essential fatty acids which are critical for brain health.
Methods:
Children aged 3-10 years who had been professionally diagnosed with autism or Asperger's syndrome were each given one gram of Nordic Naturals ProEFA [Complete Omega-3.6.9"] day for 90 days.
ProEFA provides 135 mg EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and 90 mg DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) from fish oil along with 33 mg GLA (gamma linolenic acid) from borage oil and 15 IU of natural vitamin E. The children readily accepted the lemon-flavored oil; capsules were chosen for consistent dosing and parental convenience.
On days 0, 45, and 90 of supplementation, 49 developmental items from the Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills (ABLLS), a criterion-referenced tool, were used to measure eight primary areas of language and learning: receptive language, requesting, labeling, intraverbals, imitation, play skills, social interaction, and generalization.
Results:
Eighteen (18) of the initial 22 children completed the 90-day trial.
All of the children displayed significant increases in their language and learning skills based upon the ABLLS. A t-test analysis of the data showed high statistical significance in all areas: receptive language, requesting, play skills, intraverbals and social interaction resulted in a p-value < 0.0001. A p-value of <0.001 was obtained in the areas of labeling and generalization. In addition, a p-value of <0.01 was obtained for vocal imitation. No adverse effects were noted.
Conclusion:
The highly significant results of this small, open label pilot trial shows promise for children with autism spectrum disorder.
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