Vitamin D helps depressionNote from Carolyn:
In the Pacific NW where we live, weather related depression is prevalent. I am already in the habit of making sure I get the proper amount of Vitamin D in my daily regimen. My favorite form is the Wellgenix D3 Genix. Article continues ...
A major fear
for many people with depression is the pharmaceutical merry-go-round
that comes with it. As doctors try to determine the right drugs and
right doses for patients, those patients often spend a long time feeling
worse before they feel any better.
And sometimes, they don't get better. Sometimes, drugs just make things worse.
Imagine if that could change. Imagine if all doctors placed stock in
research like the new study from the UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Then, one of the first things a psychiatrist might do after diagnosing a
patient with depression might be to have his or her vitamin D levels
checked.
Why? Because in this, the largest investigation of its kind, it was
found that low levels of D could go hand-in-hand with major depressive
disorder, which affects almost 10 percent of U.S. adults.
Researchers concluded that screening for vitamin D levels in depressed
patients and screening for depression in people who have low vitamin D
levels could go a long way to beating this debilitating disorder.
In the study, almost 12,600 participants were followed for four years.
It was found that higher levels of vitamin D were linked to a
significant decrease in depression risk, especially in people with prior
history of depression. Low vitamin D levels, on the other hand, were
linked to symptoms of depression.
The exact relationship between vitamin D and depression isn't known, but
it could be related to vitamin D's documented effects on
neurotransmitters and inflammation.
This study wasn't enough to determine how depression might be treated
with vitamin D, but it speaks volumes about the importance of looking to
the body's needs before going right to drugs. To paraphrase one of Dr.
Wright's favorite sayings, nobody is deficient in antidepressants. So
why should that be the first stop in treatment?
I'm feeling a little optimistic, so I'm going to go ahead and say it:
All of the good news we've been getting about vitamin D might be the
first indications of a sea change when it comes to medicine. It's
getting harder and harder to ignore the important roles D plays in our
general well-being and in illness treatment and prevention. The more we
demand our doctors pay attention to vitamin D and other essential
vitamins and nutrients, the more seriously we'll see them taken by
medical practitioners in general.
Christine O'Brien - Health eTips
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