– 1972

Discovery fats were essential for the brain: Docosahexaenoic for brain signalling and arachidonic for glial cells, myelin, and neuronal membranes.

– 1973

First demonstration of omega 3 deficiency causing severe behavioural pathology in a primate.

– 1976

First description of biomagnification of arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acid by the placenta to feed much enhanced levels to the the developing fetus.

The prediction of the present rise in mental disorders. Solution to the rise in mental ill-health Global implications for food and agriculture.
Some of our achievements can be identified from the peer reviewed published work. These include works on the prevention of births small for gestational age – a major risk for developmental disorder and mental ill-health, to the identification of nutritional deficits in mental disorders in children, and a new concept with the application if quantum mechanics to neuro-biology. The latter application of quantum mechanics is leading to a new concept of brain function.

Research on maternal nutrition, low birth weight, and premature births at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Campus of Imperial College, London is providing evidence that adverse pregnancy outcomes and associated neurodevelopmental disorders are preventable. Our investment in research on cerebral palsy and allied developmental brain disorders could be like neural tube defects and past history.

In particular there is now hope of preventing brain stunting which sentences a child to a life of learning and behavioural difficulties. There is no reason why every child should not be born gifted.

– Research Output With High Impact

DOWN’S SYNDROME:Erythrocyte phospholipid molecular species and fatty acids of Down syndrome children compared with non-affected siblings. Bueno AA, Brand A, Neville MM, Lehane C, Brierley N, Crawford MA. Br J Nutr. 2014 Nov 24:1-10. [Epub ahead of print]PMID: 25418850Identification of a unique defect in the synthesis of arachidonic acid which would have been of importance during brain development.

GLOBAL CRISIS IN NUTRITION: Nutritional armor in evolution: docosahexaenoic acid as a determinant of neural, evolution and hominid brain development. Crawford MA, Broadhurst CL, Cunnane S, Marsh DE, Schmidt WF, Brand A, Ghebremeskel K. Mil Med. 2014 Nov;179(11 Suppl):61-75. doi: 10.7205/MILMED-D-14-00246. PMID:25373088, A review of the significance of essential fatty acids in relation the brain function and global mental health.

ENERGY NEEDS DURING ORIGIN OF H. SAPIENS Energetic and nutritional constraints on infant brain development: implications for brain expansion during human evolution. Cunnane SC, Crawford MA. J Hum Evol. 2014 Dec;77:88-98. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.05.001. Epub 2014 Jun 11.MID:24928072. On the importance of dietary energy in relation to the evolution of the human brain.

IMPORTANCE OF OMEGA 3 TO MENTAL HEALTH OF CHILDREN. Omega-3 fatty acids are inversely related to callous and unemotional traits in adolescent boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.Gow RV, Vallee-Tourangeau F, Crawford MA, Taylor E, Ghebremeskel K, Bueno AA, Hibbeln JR, Sumich A, Rubia K. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2013 Jun;88(6):411-8. doi: 10.1016/j.plefa.2013.03.009. Epub 2013 May PMID: 23664595 Omega-3 fatty acids are related to abnormal emotion processing in adolescent boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.Gow RV, Sumich A, Vallee-Tourangeau F, Crawford MA, Ghebremeskel K, Bueno AA, Hibbeln JR, Taylor E, Wilson DA, Rubia K. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2013 Jun;88(6):419-29. doi: 10.1016/j.plefa.2013.03.008. Epub 2013 May 6.PMID:23660373 Fatty acid correlates of temperament in adolescent boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Sumich AL, Matsudaira T, Heasman B, Gow RV, Ibrahimovic A, Ghebremeskel K, Crawford MA, Taylor E. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2013 Jun;88(6):431-6. doi: 10.1016/j.plefa.2013.03.004. Epub 2013 Apr 6. PMID:23566869. Above 3 papers linking behavioural disordes in children with abnormal omega 3 status. Aphotoreceptor and its irreplaceable nature during 600 million years of animal evolution and great genetic change.

– Application Of Quantum Mechanics To Neurobiology

A quantum theory for the irreplaceable role of docosahexaenoic acid in neural cell signalling throughout evolution. Crawford MA, Broadhurst CL, Guest M, Nagar A, Wang Y, Ghebremeskel K, Schmidt WF. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2013 Jan;88(1):5-13. doi: 10.1016/j.plefa.2012.08.005. Epub 2012 Nov 30. PMID:23206328 Application of quantum mechanics to explain the function of docosahexaenoic acid in photo-reception and the brain.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MATERNAL HEALTH AND NUTRITION AGAINST POVERTY. The crisis in nutrition and poverty. Crawford MA. Nutr Health. 2012 Oct;21(4):205-8. doi: 10.1177/0260106013516562.PMID:24620004.

Foresight - the think tank which reports to Government concluded from its international consultation that there was not enough new arable land available to feed the expected 8 billion never mind the 9 billion expected soon after. Moreover, mental ill-health is now the leading cause in the burden of ill-health in the West and is being globalised. The work of the IBCHN shows how food policy must change to focus on the special nutritional requirements for the brain.

THE PREVENTION OF BABIES BEING BORN SMALL FOR GESTATIONAL AGE AND DISADVANTAGED. Louise Brough, Gail A Rees, Michael A Crawford, R. Hugh Morton and Edgar K Dorman (2010) Effect of multiple-micronutrient supplementation on maternal nutrient status and infant birth weight and gestational age at birth in a low income, multi-ethnic population. B J Nutr, Apr 23:1-9. The culmination of many years work - A randomized trial in which a micronutrient supplement from the first booking for pregnancy reduced the proportion of babies born small for gestational age - the group t highest risk for disorders.

A NEW TREATMENT FOR SICKLE CELL DISEASE WITH OMEGA 3 IS INEXPENSIVE AND HAS NO SIDE EFFECTS OTHER THAN BEING BENEFICIAL TO HEALTH. Daak AA, Ghebremeskel K, Hassan Z, Attallah B, Azan HH, Elbashir MI, Crawford M (2012) Effect of omega-3 (n-3) fatty acid supplementation in patients with sickle cell anemia: randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. AJCN. First published ahead of print November 28, 2012 as doi: 10.3945/ajcn.112.036319. Omega 3 prevented 60% of the painful SCD events! SCD causes a blockage of blood flow with pain in extremities but brain cell death when it occurs in the brain. With time this effect reduces the cognitive ability of the children with quite severe consequences. Omega 3 prevent blockage and also support brain cell nourishment, growth and maintenance, this approach is superior to drug therapy which offer no nutritional support for repair and function.

OMEGA 3 DHA DEFICIENCY IS LIKELY TO CO-EXIST WITH IODINE DEFICIENCY 0. Iodine status and fish intake of Sudanese schoolchildren living in the Red Sea and White Nile regions. Hussein IS, Min Y, Ghebremeskel K, Gaffar AM. Public Health Nutr. 2012 Dec;15(12):2265-71. doi: 10.1017/S1368980012000833. Epub 2012 Apr 4.PMID:22475452.

Nyuar KB, Min Y, Ghebremeskel K, Khalil AK, Elbashir MI, Cawford MA.(2010) Milk of northern Sudanese mothers whose traditional diet is high in carbohydrate contains low docosahexaenoic acid. Acta Paediatr.c;99(12):1824-7. The two papers above describe the serious state of iodine deficiency amd milk content of DHA is the lowest in over 4,000 samples worldwide. Iodine deficiency is wide spread in the region. An important conclusion is that iodine and DHA deficiencies likely co-exist – they co-exist in the marine food web.

With two billion people at risk for iodine deficiency, world-wide this co-existence has massive implications for public health and solving the complications implicated for millions of mentally compromised children!