Federal Daily News
Suicide prevention study to test supplement
- By FEND Staff
- October 17, 2012
Could a common dietary supplement help to stem military and veteran suicides?
Researchers will be conducting a trial to find out.
About 300 veterans will take part in the study, drinking smoothies that contain a widely available supplement—the omega-3 highly saturated fatty acids contained in fish oil—to gauge its effect as a therapy to reduce the risk of mental illness and suicide among vets with an increased risk of suicidal behaviors.
The Medical University of South Carolina, the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston, S.C., and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, will carry out the $10 million research project over a three-year period.
The Military Operational Medicine Joint Program Committee is funding the study.