Can low levels of vitamin D cause depression? Doctors not yet sure, but research shows a connection
Feeling down? You might be lacking vitamin D. Emerging research is showing the role the vitamin plays in our heads. See five things to eat to raise your levels of the ‘sunshine vitamin’, and other ways to get some
It’s a vital vitamin that helps build strong bones, promotes calcium absorption, reduces inflammation, and modulates cell growth, neuromuscular and immune function. Now, new research adds to vitamin D’s myriad benefits: a healthy mind.
Dr Mari Nerhus, of Norment Research Centre at the University of Oslo’s Institute of Clinical Medicine, and colleagues have found low vitamin D levels associated with increased disease severity in psychotic disorders, and increased negative and depressive symptoms. The researchers were also able to show an association between vitamin D deficiency and cognitive impairments in processing speed and verbal fluency . Nerhus and her team are currently running studies investigating potential associations between vitamin D levels and brain structures as measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Vitamin D tablets may help reduce severe asthma attacks, review finds
According to Dr Tommy Chan, registered clinical psychologist at Matilda International Hospital and Matilda Medical Centre in Hong Kong, most studies show mild to moderate correlation between depression and vitamin D levels, but not a clear-cut and not a causal relationship.
“For example, individuals with low vitamin D may be due to a lack of sun exposure from outdoor activities. An active outdoor lifestyle and sport activity themselves may actually lead to less depression, not because of sun exposure and a high level of vitamin D,” Chan says. “In other words, being outdoors a lot such as playing sport could act as a confounding variable leading to less depression, instead of due to increased vitamin D from sun exposure.”
Depression is one of the biggest mental health problems among young people in Hong Kong. The number and severity of cases is on the rise, as is the number seeking help for the condition.The causes of their depression vary: work stress – high academic demands, long working hours and a fast-paced lifestyle; family discord – generational and cultural gaps – and breakdown of traditional family values; lack of transparency and intimacy in social relations; lack of physical space, privacy and time in nature; environmental pollution such as air, noise and light; and alcohol and drug abuse.
Hongkongers hooked up to IV drips for vitamins and hydration - do they work?
Vitamin D is a hot topic in research right now and linked to many mental and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, mood disorders and depression. It is unclear whether a low vitamin D level is causing these diseases/disorders or if the condition is causing people with these diseases to have lower vitamin D. There is no medical consensus on whether low vitamin D causes or is a symptom of these conditions.
