Welcome to this site which started off dealing with omega-3 fatty acids or fish oil only. It has gradually expanded  to include some details on  nutritional or biochemical treatment of a whole range of conditions with a strong emphasis on psychiatric illness. My experience now is that the majority of patients with mental health problems can be helped by getting the chemistry (biochemistry) of the brain as close to the normal range as possible. Most of my mental health patients have seen a psychiatrist,sometimes,many psychiatrists, before they see me yet I can help the majority. There is no way that if my cardiac patients had seen a cardiologist that I could improve even one of them.

It is being provided for the benefit  of the  patients of Dr Edmond O`Flaherty,a family doctor (G.P.) in Dublin,Ireland. I usually see patients with a mental health problem on a regular basis over a long period so anybody coming here should be aware of this fact. However some patients come from far away and indeed from other countries  and I try to follow them up over the telephone or by email.Those who suffer from depression are the likeliest ones to benefit from coming here. Many people with schizophrenia or bipolar make a decent recovery too but only about 15% of those with severe OCD find it worthwhile to come.Where a patient comes from outside the Irish Republic I request that a whole series of blood tests should be done before they come here and I also do some specialised tests here.Irish residents can get  a lot of their tests done free in a local hospital in Dublin  and only have to pay for the consultations and specialised tests.Charges depends on many factors but typically cost about 200-300 euros for Irish residents and 300-500 euros for non-residents.That includes the consultation and the specialised tests.Nutrients have to be bought every month and they will cost about 3-5 euros per day mostly from health food shops. Sometimes I get these made up in Pfeiffer Center in Chicago as they put them into a smaller number of capsules and there is better compliance.

This website is for general knowledge only and not specifically for any individual. Because it is  on the net  it is being viewed by hundreds of people every month. Feedback from different parts of the world suggests that many lives have been utterly transformed by these few pages. If you have any suggestions to improve it or any comments or  if you notice any error please contact eoflaherty@gmail.com .You may also contribute your opinion to my blog at www.biochemicalindividualitypsychiatry.blogspot.com 

I provide testing for a whole range of psychiatric problems,especially depression but also schizophrenia,bipolar and OCD.Results are best for depression.OCD patients are the most difficult to treat. Some with ADD and ADHD come too. These tests are sent to  labs in Ireland,U.K and U.S., and then if something abnormal is found I try to correct it.I do not send the same tests for everybody-it depends on the history and physical examination.This treatment is sometimes referred to as biochemical individuality. Blood,urine and occasionally hair samples are taken and about 80% of patients turn up at least one abnormality. I can only help them if the test results show an abnormality so some people will gain nothing from coming here. About 80% of those with depression, 50% of those with schizophrenia or bipolar and 15% of those with OCD get significantly better over the following few months. What I recommend is the addition  of selected vitamins,minerals,amino acids and essential fatty acids (including fish oil) to their regular medication,not as a replacement. At present there is a four week waiting list for appointments. Quite often cancellations are available . Telephone(353)12881425 for appointment or use the email above.Tests are not done on Thursdays or Fridays. Among the fascinating points of this work is that about 20% of cases (excluding OCD)  are actually easy to solve and I am concerned that  this knowledge is not widely known. Because mental illness is to a great extent a genetic condition I have noticed an increase recently in patients who come for testing because one of their family,usually a brother or sister, has a serious mental health problem. Sometimes I find their results are a milder form of the biochemical abnormailities  of their relative and I correct their biochemistry too. The evidence that this is useful is not strong but they feel more secure if any possible abnormality is corrected.

 i have some interest in autism but very few patients come to me for that so I do not do the tests on them any more as a rule.However as I see very few of this type of patient I  believe they should initiallly be seen at Pfeiffer Center in Chicago (www.hriptc.org).  The cost of the visit and the tests is high but really it a a great bargain-the child may get well if treated in time.I did a course in nutrition in mental health  in Sydney in Feb 2006 organised for doctors  by Pfeiffer Center  where I was introduced to autism as a chemical/biochemical problem. Autism is quite treatable now if the brain chemistry is sorted out in the first three or 4 years and children can then enter normal primary school. Even older ones can achieve some benefit too but not to the same extent as the brain gets damaged in due course if not treated. These children have a severe  zinc deficiency as a rule for example and zinc is a very important feature of normal brain function and also  for normal bowel function. They usually have a whole range of other problems too,often related to the gut.Did you know that when 3-4 year-old autistic children recover they are found to have an average IQ of 120? Best results are achieved by combining biochemical treatment with such therapy as ABA.The Pfeiffer Center has seen thousands of patients with autistic spectrum disorders and one of the paediaticians there sees autistic children all day every day.

New for 2007 is the fact that I have  started to treat Alzheimer`s Disease using antioxidants as supplemental  treatment to  reduce oxidative stress on the brain. This treatment is taken in addition to regular medication,which,to be frank,is not too impressive . Treatment  by Pfeiffer Center in Chicago of a small number of patients  has shown improved scores on the Mini-Mental Test  and computerised CANTAB testing and these results have been stabilised for up to 5 years,a remarkable story. Using their protocol and products I now offer this treatment too. Please note that although early results are promising this treatment must  be regared as "unproven" until double-blind,controlled studies can be successfully completed and published. Because this product  is not made by a big drug company that may take a very long time. This treatment works best if started at the first sign of the condition appearing.

In Dec. 2006 I came across a lecture from an Associate Professor of Psychiatry in Harvard who will introduce you to the subject of fish oil. To get to it  go first to www.healthyplace.com/communities/bipolar/treatment/alternative/nutritional_supplements.asp . Scroll down about 6 inches to a box on the right with a little film strip and click on the highlighted section on The Latest Research on Altennative and Complementary Medicine.The 40 minute section before fish oil covers some useful topics too-St Johns Wort,Folate and Sam-e . If you have time to spare consider looking at the whole video.

Omega-3 fish oil (or fatty acids) has been shown to have considerable beneficial effects in many controlled trials and in clinical practice.

In this website you will find some details of where it has been found useful and it also provides links  to a great deal of information on other sites.

No responsibility can be accepted for any use to which you put this information.Please get the opinion of your physician in the first place and DO NOT STOP YOUR NORMAL MEDICATION WITHOUT YOUR PHYSICIAN`S APPROVAL.The nutrients I recommend for psychiatric conditions- mostly vitamins,minerals,essential fatty acids and amino acids-are taken in addition to and not instead of standard psychiatric medication-it is complementary rather than alternative medicine.As the patients get well though they often get drowsy and then the psychiatrists  reduce the level of their antipsychotic medication if they have been on that.

Note that omega-3 fish oil is unsuitable for those with a fish allergy -they should use flaxseed oil instead. It is  unsuitable  too for haemophiliacs and probably  for certain other types of blood disorders or if taking any medication to thin your blood or prevent it from clotting.It may be unsuitable too in large doses for some of  those with a pyroluric disorder-this affects  27% of people with schizophrenia ( and a lot of bipolar patients too,especially rapid cycling bipolars) and some of these appear to be deficient in omega-6 instead (in particular gamma linolenic acid)  as well as B6 and zinc.I have described this condition in detail in the WHERE IS OMEGA-3 USEFUL page as most of these can make a good recovery if treated properly.Please read about it as you may spot this condition  in a person with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder or simply depression and help them on the path to recovery by referring them on. I am really surprised at how  the same nutritional treatment can improve these 3 widely different conditions in so many cases. I  like to turn up pyroluria in the kryptopyrrole test  as the outlook is generally very good for those patients-their lives can be greatly improved in as little as a few weeks in many cases.Those with a low histamine test generally improve after a few months  while those with a high histamine level tend to have very low serotonin,very severe depression and many months pass before  they recover,if at all. If they are treated while young though the outlook even for this group is generally quite alright,although they may not always be able to return to the same high level position which they had in the past. My own belief is that it a great tragedy that the type of information provided on this site is not known by most doctors and that so many people  who could have a good quality of  life are living in misery instead.

Nutritional psychiatry makes up only 25% of my work but it is by far the most useful and satisfying work that I do. Almost every month I see patients who have been out of work,sometimes for years, returning to work or college and the benefits to those patients,their families and indeed society are enormous.Most of the patients I see,and they come to me from very far away sometimes, have been attending psychiatrists for years and I am quite shocked at how much extra benefit is is possibe to obtain for them by doing  tests and recommending specific nutrients.The biggest problem I have is that sometimes I recommend a long list and unless a mother or somebody who is as concerned as a mother is there to make sure they take them then my work will be in vain. As they get better though they will generally take them themselves.I cannot cure anybody of mental illness though so if they are well and stop taking the nutrients they will relapse,usually in a few weeks.However after the first few months of treatment they will generally get by on a much smaller dose than they need in the beginning.

If somebody has a history of psychotic illness for more than ten years my experience with nutrients  suggests that the prognosis is much worse and in those over 50 the results are generally poor.The oldest patient with chronic schizophrenia I have seen getting a job is now 55 and I started treating him only  four years ago.He still remains on his antipsychotics although the dose has been reduced.Recently he told me he felt great and said he felt dire before I treated him.

Nutritional or orthomolecular psychiatry is used by only 1% of psychiatrists  in North America.Gradually however medical schools there are opening faculties of complemetary  medicine and I expect that this type of treatment will become more  widely accepted over the next few years

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                          LOW DOSE NALTREXONE- DOCTORS SHOULD KNOW ALL ABOUT IT 

This has nothing to do with omega-3 or nutrition but I have for several years  been using a a drug called naltrexone in small doses (low dose naltrexone) and have found it to  extremely useful in many cases of cancers,auto immune diseases, MS,Chronic fatigue/M.E.,poorly-functioning immune systems,fibromyalgia.and Crohn`s Disease to name only some indications.Sometimes  I can scarcely believe my eyes with the results I get in some situations that I would have previously regarded as hopeless. Read all about it on www.lowdosenaltrexone.org and tell your doctor all about it if you feel it might be relevant in your case. Very few doctors in Ireland prescribe it but  I understand that about 100,000 people are on it at present in different  parts of the world.