By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, May 20, 2010, abstracted from “Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Depressive Symptoms in Older Women and Men” printed online May 5, 2010 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism

Vitamin D has been known for more than 80 years to benefit bone health since it was discovered to cure rickets (1). But vitamin D’s health benefits also encompass heart health (2), prostate health (3), mental neurological health (4) and even improving long-term health (5).

Current recommendations by the National Institutes of Health are still 200 IU for people up to 50 years of age, 400 IU for people 51-70 years, and 600 IU for 71 years and older (6). But vitamin D’s role in health has caused the American Academy of Pediatrics to recommend doubling the intake for children to 400 IU per day (7).  Now a new study (8) has found that vitamin D deficiency may affect mental health in older adults regarding depression.  Major depressive disorder is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. for ages 15-44 (9), affecting nearly 15 million American adults each year, which is nearly 7 percent of the U.S. population aged 18 and older (10). Major depressive disorder is a significant contributor to the $83 billion cost of depression to our healthcare system each year (11).

In the study, 531 women and 423 men 65 years of age and older provided blood samples before the study began and at 3 and 6 years while completing the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) (12). The CES-D is a 20-item self-report scale, ranging from 0 to 60 that has been shown to accurately assess depressive symptoms in older adults (13).  According to the CES-D, a “depressed mood” is defined as having a score of 16 or higher.  The researchers chose to use 50 nanmoles/Liter as the reference point, with the National Institute of Health stating that that blood level is ”generally considered adequate for bone and overall health in healthy individuals” (6).

The researchers found that women with vitamin D blood levels less than 50 nanomoles/liter compared with those with higher levels experienced increases in CES-D scores of 2.1 and 2.2 points higher at, respectively, 3- and 6-year follow-up. Overall, women with low vitamin D levels had double the risk of developing a depressive mood over the follow-up.

When looking at the men’s results, those with the vitamin D levels less than 50 nmol/L compared with those with higher levels experienced increases in CES-D scores of 1.9 and 1.1 points higher at 3- and 6-year follow-up. Men with low vitamin D levels also had a 60% higher risk of developing a depressive mood.  These results have confirmed earlier research (11) showing that vitamin D levels in patients with major depressive disorder and those with minor depression were 14% lower than those of non-depressed participants.

For the researchers, “Our findings suggest that [having low vitamin D blood levels] is a risk factor for the development of depressive symptoms in older persons.”  While the researchers didn’t make any recommendations on vitamin D intake needed to achieve 50 nmol/L, previous research has shown 15–25 micrograms (600 – 1000 IU) per day of vitamin D can produce blood levels of 75–112 nmol/L (15, 16, 17).

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

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