There's a growing body of evidence supporting the proposition that LCP supplementation helps children and adults with learning disorders.

The most recent study comes from the world–renowned Oxford University in England and shows that LCP supplementation reduces the symptoms of ADHD.

The double–blind, placebo–controlled trial has not yet been published in a scientific journal but some details were released in a paper presented at the Federation of Neuroscience Societies (FENS) conference in Brighton, England in June 2000 by lead researcher, Dr. Alex Richardson.

In this six–month study, kids attending a special school for children with learning disorders were divided into two groups. One group received supplementation for the initial three months, while the other group received a placebo. For the next three months the first group continued to receive LCP supplements and the second group was switched from the placebo to LCP supplements.

The results showed that ADHD ratings are high in children with dyslexia and that children with both the inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity forms of ADHD displayed signs of fatty acid deficiency. After twelve weeks, the group receiving the LCP supplement displayed significant improvements in the average scores for cognitive problems, behavior problems and anxiety, as measured on the Conners' Parent Rating Scales. The children receiving the placebo showed no improvement.

When the placebo group was switched to LCPs they too displayed significant improvements while the other children, who continued to use LCPs, maintained their reduction of symptoms.

This is the most compelling research to date. As a double–blind trial in which neither the doctors nor the participants knew who was getting the real thing and who was getting the placebo, it is particularly valid.

Dr. Richardson and her team have also conducted two other trials with a total of some 200 participants concentrating on LCP supplementation and dyslexia. One study consisted of one hundred adults–some have dyslexia; others do not. The second study comprised a similarly large group of children–all with dyslexia. The results of supplementation have not been made available but an analysis of baseline data showed that in the dyslexic adults there were greater signs of LCP deficiency compared with the non–dyslexics. In the dyslexic children, those who were more deficient in LCPs were more behind in their ability to read–some by as much as thirty months.

Earlier research with dyslexics and dyspraxics was pioneered by B. Jacqueline Stordy,PhD. of the University of Surrey in the UK.

Initially, Dr. Stordy discovered that mothers of dyslexic children had, while pregnant, been on a diet low in omega–3 fatty acids compared to the mothers of non–dyslexics. She then found that a group of young adult dyslectics had poor night vision and were probably deficient in DHA. When dyslexics were given 480 milligrams of DHA a day as fish oil–for just a month–their ability to see in the dark bcame equally as good as that of nondyslexics.

In a study with dyspraxic children aged between five and twelve, Dr. Stordy found motor skills–measured using the ABC Movement Assessment Battery for Children–significantly improved following four months of LCP supplementation. Behavior–as measured using the Conners' Parent Rating Scales–also improved and the children were significantly less anxious.

Research at Purdue University has shown that boys with ADHD had clinical signs of LCP deficiency and displayed greater behavioral problems. A study supplementing a group of ADHD boys with a high DHA fish oil supplement showed improvement in behavior–but not across all measures. It was noted, however, that the less LCP there was in a child's blood, the worse the child's behavior.