Richardson AJ, Puri BK. 2002. The Beechlawn Study – The effects of supplementation with highly unsaturated fatty acids on ADHD-related symptoms in children with specific learning difficulties. A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study.
The Beechlawn Study was the first double-blind, placebo controlled trial to be published in a peer reviewed journal. It showed Efalex could reduce a number of ADHD related symptoms including cognitive problems, anxiety and hyperactivity. After 12 weeks mean scores for cognitive problems and general behaviour problems were significantly lower for the group treated with HUFA than for the placebo group
Population studied: 41 Children aged 8-12 with dyslexia who had ADHD related symptoms
Dosage & Duration: children took 8 capsules per day of Efalex for 12 weeks.
Method:
The authors tested the prediction that relative deficiencies in highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) may underlie some of the behavioural and learning problems associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by studying the effects of HUFA supplementation on ADHD-related symptoms in children with specific learning difficulties (mainly dyslexia) who also showed ADHD features.
Forty-one children aged 8-12 years with both specific learning difficulties and above-average ADHD ratings were randomly allocated to HUFA supplementation or placebo for 12 weeks.
At both baseline and follow-up, a range of behavioural and learning problems associated with ADHD was assessed using standardized parent rating scales.
Results:
At baseline, the groups did not differ, but after 12 weeks mean scores for cognitive problems and general behaviour problems were significantly lower for the group treated with HUFA than for the placebo group; there were significant improvements from baseline on 7 out of 14 scales for active treatment, compared with none for placebo. Group differences in change scores all favoured HUFA, reaching conventional significance levels for 3 out of 14 scales. HUFA supplementation appears to reduce ADHD-related symptoms in children with specific learning difficulties. Given the safety and tolerability of this simple treatment, results from this pilot study strongly support the case for further investigations.
1.Richardson AJ, Puri BK. A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the effects of supplementation with highly unsaturated fatty acids on ADHD-related symptoms in children with specific learning difficulties. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry. 2002;26:233-239.
