{"id":4075,"date":"2020-10-13T07:04:49","date_gmt":"2020-10-13T11:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chaneyhealth.com\/healthtips\/?p=4075"},"modified":"2020-09-12T17:38:05","modified_gmt":"2020-09-12T21:38:05","slug":"does-vitamin-d-prevent-depression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chaneyhealth.com\/healthtips\/does-vitamin-d-prevent-depression\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Vitamin D Prevent Depression?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why You Can’t Believe Everything You Read<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"depression\"<\/a>The days are getting shorter and Seasonal Depression, often called the \u201cwinter blues\u201d, will soon be upon us. Most of the research on Seasonal Depression has centered on the effect of sunlight on our hormones.<\/p>\n

However, sunlight is also responsible for the synthesis of vitamin D in our skin cells. So, some experts have hypothesized that low levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the active form of vitamin D, in our blood also play a role in the winter blues.<\/p>\n

If so, that could have important implications for managing depression, especially in older adults. Depression is estimated to affect around 6.5 million of the 49 million adults over the age of 65 in our country. Treatment costs for older adults in this country are estimated at $9 billion\/year.<\/p>\n

If something as simple and inexpensive as a vitamin D supplement could reduce the risk of depression, it would be a huge boon to our health care system.<\/p>\n

Association studies suggest that may be a possibility. For example, one recent meta-analysis of 6 clinical studies (H Li et al, The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 27: P1192-1202, 2019<\/a>) reported that every 10 ng\/mL increase in 25-hydroxyvitamin D was associated with a 12% decrease in the risk of depression in older adults.<\/p>\n

However, association studies do not prove cause and effect.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, randomized, placebo controlled clinical trials have given mixed results. A few studies suggested that vitamin D might reduce depression risk, but most of the studies found no effect of vitamin D on depression risk. However, most of the published studies have been poorly designed They were too small, too short, or did not use validated methods for measuring depression.<\/p>\n

This was the genesis of the current study (OI Okerke et al., JAMA, 324: 471-480, 2020<\/a>). It was designed to be a definitive study that would avoid the defects of previous studies.<\/p>\n

The study concluded that vitamin D supplementation does not decrease the risk of depression in older adults, and those were the headlines you have probably seen. But is that conclusion true? Let\u2019s take a peek behind the curtain and analyze the study.<\/p>\n

How Was The Study Done?<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Clinical<\/a>This study was an offshoot of the VITAL (VIT<\/u><\/strong>amin D and OmegaA<\/u><\/strong>-3 TriaL<\/u><\/strong>) clinical study, so let me start by describing the characteristics of that study.<\/p>\n

The VITAL study (JE Manson et al, New England Journal of Medicine, DOI: 10.1056\/NEJMoa1811403<\/a>) enrolled 25,871 healthy adults (average age = 67) in the United States. The study participants were 50% female, 50% male, and 20% African American. None of the participants had preexisting cancer or heart disease.<\/p>\n

Study participants were given questionnaires on enrollment to assess clinical and lifestyle factors including dietary intake. Blood samples were taken from about 65% of the participants to determine 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (a measure of vitamin D status) at baseline and at the end of the first year to assess the effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation. The participants were given either 2,000 IU of vitamin D\/day or a placebo and followed for an average of 5.3 years.<\/p>\n

This study consisted of 18,353 participants from the VITAL study. Ninety percent of the participants had no previous history of depression. Ten percent had previously been diagnosed or treated for depression but had been depression-free for over 2 years.<\/p>\n

The participants filled out annual questionnaires to quantify the onset of depression by three criteria:<\/p>\n