Dr. Schaefer received his B.A. cum laude (biology) from Harvard University, his B.M.S. from Dartmouth Medical School, and his M.D. with honors from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. He did his medical residency at Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York, and an endocrinology fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, where he also was a senior investigator and head of the clinical service of the Molecular Disease Branch of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Since 1982 he has been at Tufts University where he is currently a Distinguished University Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine and the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. He is a Senior Scientist and Director of the Lipid Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, as well as the Director of the Cardiovascular Research Laboratory at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and is the Director of the Lipid and Heart Disease Prevention Program and Clinic.
Joseph Hibbeln, M.D.
Online Grand Rounds
Dr. Joseph Hibbeln is a psychiatrist, lipid biologist and chief of the outpatient clinic at the National Institute on Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health. He studied epidemiological data about the rates of diseases and average diets in different parts of the world, and learned of an astonishing link between omega-3 fatty acids in our diet, and mood disorders like manic depression and depression. Dr. Hibbeln found that diets high in fish were very strongly correlated with freedom from depression. We eat very differently from our ancestors over the last two to three million years, who consumed far less saturated fats and much more omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids, which occur in leafy green vegetables and fish. In the last hundred years we've seen a radical increase in coronary heart disease, commonly understood to be linked to dietary changes. Dr. Hibbeln attributes the parallel increase in depression to a dietary lack of mega 3 fatty acids. He cites a recent study of unstable bipolar patients, just discharged from the hospital. In the group receiving a placebo, eight out of fifteen relapsed, but in the group receiving the Omega 3 fatty acids, only one out of fifteen relapsed. (Both groups were on common antidepressant drugs.) Dr. Hibbeln finds that other epidemiological studies show a link between high fish consumption and a low incidence of post-partum depression. He notes that infant formulas in the U.S. are very low in the Omega 3 fatty acids. Since the fatty acids are selectively depleted from the brain by alcoholism, their lack may worsen other disorders in alcoholics. He recommends substituting olive oil for corn and soy oil, and eating fish every one or two days. It should be baked, broiled, poached, but not fried. The highest food source of Omega 3 fatty acids is caviar, with sardines coming in second. Mackerel, halibut, and salmon are all good sources.