Study Suggests Vitamin D May Benefit Mental Health

by | May 9, 2013 | 2014, Brain Health, Depression, Vitamin D - Mental Health

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Researchers found those with current depression had an 80% risk of having inadequate vitamin D blood levels while those with past depression had a 68% risk compared to placebo.

Depression is projected to be the second most important cause of disability worldwide by 2020 (1) due to both soaring costs for treatment and reduced productivity (2). As depression imposes “an enormous economic burden in the order of tens of billions of dollars each year in the US alone” (3), the need to find ways to improve mental health is paramount.

Now a new study (4) suggests that vitamin D may play a role in mental health.  Previous research has shown that vitamin D receptors exist within cell membranes of brain structures (5). Building on these findings, researchers analyzed vitamin D blood levels of 1,102 patients currently suffering from depression, 790 patients who had suffered from depression but were now in remission, and 494 patients with no history of depression in the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (6).  Each participant underwent psychiatric interviews by specially trained staff using the Composite Interview Diagnostic Instrument (7), diagnosing depression according to the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (8).

The researchers found that the control patients had vitamin D levels 5.2% higher than those with previous bouts of depression (66.6 vs. 63.2, p = 0.06  This value is above the usual level of 0.05 considered significant)* and 8.2% higher vitamin D blood levels than those with a current bout of depression (66.6 vs. 61.2, p = 0.001).  When looking at each group, vitamin D insufficiency (< 50 nmol/L) was present in 24.1% of those in the control group compared to 33.5% of those with past bouts of depression and 38% of those currently with depression.  Sufficient levels of vitamin D (>75 nmol/L) was present in 40.3% of control compared to 29.8% of those with past depression and 27.2% of those currently with depression.  Finally, those with current depression had an 80% increased risk of having inadequate vitamin D blood levels while those with past depression had a 68% increased risk compared to the control group.

For the researchers, low blood levels of vitamin D “represent an underlying biological vulnerability for depression” and that “Future studies should elucidate whether [low vitamin D blood levels] could be cost effectively treated as part of preventive or treatment interventions for depression.”

Source: Milaneschi, Yuri, et al. “The association between low vitamin D and depressive disorders.” Molecular psychiatry 19.4 (2014): 444-451.

© 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All Rights Reserved.

Posted May 9, 2013.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com

*The lower the p value, the more reliable the statement. A p value of 0.05 is the usual standard and means that the statement has a 5% chance of being due to other factors.

References:

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  2. Cuijpers P, Beekman AT, Reynolds CF. , III. Preventing depression: a global priority. JAMA 2012; 307: 1033–1034.
  3. Wang PS.  The economic burden of depression and the cost-effectiveness of treatment.  Int J Methods Psychiatr Res. 2003;12(1):22-33.
  4. Milaneschi Y.  The association between low vitamin D and depressive disorders.  Mol Psychiatry. 2013 Apr 9. doi: 10.1038/mp.2013.36.
  5. Eyles DW, Smith S, Kinobe R, Hewison M, McGrath JJ. Distribution of the vitamin D receptor and 1 alpha-hydroxylase in human brain. J Chem Neuroanat 2005; 29: 21–30.
  6. Penninx BW, Beekman AT, Smit JH, Zitman FG, Nolen WA, Spinhoven P et al. The Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA): rationale, objectives and methods. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 2008; 17: 121–140.
  7. World Health Organization. The Composite Interview Diagnostic Instrument (CIDI). WHO: Geneva, Switzerland, 1997.
  8. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th edn (American Psychiatric Association: Washington, DC, USA, 2001.