Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences

A new study suggests that fish oil could be the key to a safe and effective form of treatment for young people with schizophrenia.

For young people at risk of developing the mental illness, early treatment is generally seen as the best way to avoid full-blown psychosis down the track.

Adolescent psychiatrist Paul Amminger of the University of Melbourne's Orygen Youth Health Centre says low doses of anti-psychotic drugs are sometimes prescribed, but it is controversial.

Seventy-six people completed the study and of the group, 41 were given fish oil tablets four times a day for three months. The rest were given a placebo.

Of the group that took the fish oil capsules, only two had developed a psychotic disorder after a year, while of the placebo group, 11 went on to develop some kind of psychosis.

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