I have no idea what the data on DHA for anything resembling this is. The point of my posting this is that some intelligent docs thought the risk benefit ratio was worth it.
Background is a mining disaster a while back. All the trapped miners except one died. From what I read in today's (local) paper no one knows how this one guy survived high levels of carbon dioxide for as long as he was in trapped in the mine.
"41 hours buried in the mine"
http://www.baltimore...ology-headlines
link probably only works for short time.
"Doctors had initially addressed his liver and heart failure and his collapsed lung when he was brought in after 41 hours buried in the mine, using technical medical means. But when it came time to treat McCloy's brain, they also turned to DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid typically found in fish."
Background: any doctor (MD) advocating any supplement for any reason makes himself about as popular as LifeMirage is on this board at the moment (think prometheus's reactions to nootropics to understand how well this suggestion would be received by most docs). You have to know and understand the terain before you can know how to interpret what the players in the article said. You can be damn well sure any doc is going to think twice about giving a patient on death's door anything non-traditional, and of course does not want to be seen as one of those wackos when asked about the treatment. So you can be sure he would not have used it if he did not think the odds of benefit were high, and you can be sure know matter how strongly he felt that the DHA helped, he would be hesitant to say so strongly (I should wait a while and call him and get the inside scoop).
So that is the context to understand the remarks of the patient's doc
"I'm not advocating it as a panacea, but I would say that I strongly believe that the role of essential fatty acids, including DHA, in some brain diseases and insults - in this case, carbon monoxide - has been underappreciated, and I think hopefully it played a significant role in Mr. McCloy's recovery, which ... far exceeded our expectations," Bailes said."
"Doctors knew McCloy's gray matter had not been damaged in the accident, but that he had inhaled a significant amount of carbon monoxide, which injures the brain's white matter, responsible for communication between regions of the brain.
There is no medication to reverse it and so our rationale was it had to be rebuilt. And what better way than with an essential fatty acid that is one of the main ingredients that it is made from in the first place?" said Bailes, who had become interested in DHA for effects it may have as an anti-inflammatory agent or in treating spinal disorders.
When McCloy was initially examined, there was no metabolic activity in the white matter that was injured. After treatment with DHA, there was, Bailes said. He could think of nothing else to explain it.
"I certainly don't know. I can't prove it. I don't know for sure," Bailes said. "I certainly felt it was safe. When we got him, he was in such dire straits, we had to try innovative treatment."
McCloy is considered the longest-known survivor ever of such carbon monoxide exposure.
Bailes, chairman of the neurosurgery department at West Virginia University
A surgeon no less open to supps. I can't begin to tell you how unlikely that is.
The point is it is nice to debate on this board, and want double blind studies before taking action. But life does not always allow. Even for relative hangnails there are always potential options. The key is the available data and the benefit to potential risk ratio.
And yes I note the turkeys trying to promote DHA as a drug....sigh.
