Combat your depression with Vitamin D | Vitamin D10: High Quality Vitamin D3 from Synergy Therapeutics RX

Vitamin D can help you reclaim your life

Narinder Duggal, MD, FRCPC

Clinically, depression is a medical illness that involves the mind and body. It affects how you feel, think and behave. Symptoms can include sadness, loss of interest, decreased energy, changes in eating, poor sleeping habits and suicidal thoughts. If you have these symptoms for more than a few weeks, you may be suffering from clinical depression. Depression can be caused by a combination of environmental, behavioral and biological factors. According to new research, vitamin D deficiency may play a role in the development of not only seasonal affective disorder (SAD) but also chronic depression.^1-3

SAD is a type of depression occurring during winter months and experienced more often by people who live in northern latitudes. Vitamin D may be an important treatment for SAD. In 1999, Gloth reported that an increase in vitamin D status, significantly improved the symptoms of depression in patients with seasonal affective disorder.⁴ In 1998, Lansdowne found when vitamin D, was given to 44 healthy adults in winter for only five days their moods were enhanced.⁵ The researchers of this study also noticed that vitamin D stimulates the brain to produce more serotonin, a neurotransmitter believed to be indirectly associated with depression by positively influencing the brain cells related to mood.

Vitamin D activates receptors on neurons in regions of the brain implicated in the regulation of behavior, stimulates neurotrophin release, and protects the brain against vascular injury.⁶ The association between vitamin D levels and the risk of mood disorders in the elderly was the focus of an important study where researchers concluded that those with low vitamin D levels had 11.7 times higher incidence of depression than those having high vitamin D levels.⁷ In addition, the researchers also measured cognitive ability of the subjects and documented that those with vitamin D deficiency exhibited poorer cognitive performances than those who were not deficient. In another study, Wilkins and his colleagues found that vitamin D deficiency was associated with poor cognitive performance and lower bone mineral density of the hip among African Americans.⁸ A group of European researchers found similar results in their population based cross-sectional study; lower vitamin D levels were associated with poorer cognitive performance in middle-aged and older European men.⁹

Hoogendijk reported in 2008 that older individuals with low serum vitamin D and high blood levels of parathyroid hormone have a higher risk for depression.¹⁰ This study included 1282 subjects aged 65-95 years of whom 169 were diagnosed with minor depression, 26 with major depressive disorder and 1087 with no depression. Subjects had an average vitamin D level of 21ng/ml (range 30-150 ng/ml) and an average parathyroid hormone level of 3.6 pg/mL. Severity of depression was significantly associated with increased parathyroid hormone levels and decreased vitamin D levels. It was found that those with major or minor depressive disorder had 14% lower vitamin D levels when compared to those who were not depressed. Moreover, parathyroid hormone levels were 5% higher among subjects with minor depression and 33% higher among subjects with major depressive disorder when compared to non-depressed subjects.

Vitamin D supplementation produced a significant improvement in symptoms of depression not only in older adults but also in women and obese people.^11,12 The neuroprotective role of vitamin D may also be helpful in the management of other mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, dementia and alcoholism.¹³In 2009, Grant hypothesized that vitamin D can reduce the risk of developing dementia.¹⁴

All these studies point in the same direction– the importance of assessing vitamin D levels in the treatment of depression. Discuss the relationship between depression and vitamin D deficiency with your doctor. Ask if supplementation with Vitamin D10 by Synergy Therapeutics RX is right for you.

References:

1.    Tuohimaa P, Keisala T, Minasyan A, et al. Vitamin D, nervous system and aging. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2009;34 Suppl 1:S278-86. (PUBMED Abstract)
2.    Pan A, Lu L, Franco OH, et al. Association between depressive symptoms and 25-hydroxyvitamin D in middle-aged and elderly Chinese. J Affect Disord 2009;118(1-3):240-3. (PUBMED Abstract)
3.    Nanri A, Mizoue T, Matsushita Y, et al. Association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and depressive symptoms in Japanese: analysis by survey season. Eur J Clin Nutr 2009;63(12):1444-7. (PUBMED Abstract)
4.    Gloth FM, 3rd, Alam W, Hollis B. Vitamin D vs broad spectrum phototherapy in the treatment of seasonal affective disorder. J Nutr Health Aging 1999;3(1):5-7. (PUBMED Abstract)
5.    Lansdowne AT, Provost SC. Vitamin D3 enhances mood in healthy subjects during winter. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1998;135(4):319-23. (PUBMED Abstract)
6.    Cherniack EP, Troen BR, Florez HJ, et al. Some new food for thought: the role of vitamin D in the mental health of older adults. Curr Psychiatry Rep 2009;11(1):12-9. (PUBMED Abstract)
7.    Wilkins CH, Sheline YI, Roe CM, et al. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with low mood and worse cognitive performance in older adults. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2006;14(12):1032-40. (PUBMED Abstract)
8.    Wilkins CH, Birge SJ, Sheline YI, Morris JC. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with worse cognitive performance and lower bone density in older African Americans. J Natl Med Assoc 2009;101(4):349-54. (PUBMED Abstract)
9.    Lee DM, Tajar A, Ulubaev A, et al. Association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and cognitive performance in middle-aged and older European men. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2009;80(7):722-9. (PUBMED Abstract)
10.    Hoogendijk WJ, Lips P, Dik MG, et al. Depression is associated with decreased 25-hydroxyvitamin D and increased parathyroid hormone levels in older adults. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2008;65(5):508-12. (PUBMED Abstract)
11.    Jorde R, Sneve M, Figenschau Y, et al. Effects of vitamin D supplementation on symptoms of depression in overweight and obese subjects: randomized double blind trial. J Intern Med 2008;264(6):599-609. (PUBMED Abstract)
12.    Shipowick CD, Moore CB, Corbett C, Bindler R. Vitamin D and depressive symptoms in women during the winter: a pilot study. Appl Nurs Res 2009;22(3):221-5. (PUBMED Abstract)
13.    Schneider B, Weber B, Frensch A, et al. Vitamin D in schizophrenia, major depression and alcoholism. J Neural Transm 2000;107(7):839-42. (PUBMED Abstract)
14.    Grant WB. Does vitamin D reduce the risk of dementia? J Alzheimers Dis 2009;17(1):151-9. (PUBMED Abstract)