Higher vitamin D levels correlated with less depression

Tuesday, January 10, 2012. The November, 2011 edition of Mayo Clinic Proceedings published the results of a cross-sectional study conducted by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the Cooper Institute which uncovered a protective effect for high serum vitamin D levels against depression. The study, which included 12,594 men and women, is the largest of its kind to date.

University of Texas professor of psychiatry E. Sherwood Brown and his associates analyzed data from participants in the Cooper Center Longitudinal Study, which enrolled patients from the Cooper Clinic from November, 2006, to October, 2010. Subjects were categorized as depressed in accordance with Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale scores, and serum samples were analyzed for 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels.

Dr Brown's team found a significant association between higher vitamin D levels and a decreased risk of depressive symptoms, especially among those with a history of the condition. For those without a history of depression, having a higher serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was associated with a 5 percent lower risk of the condition compared to having a low level, while among those with a history of depression, the risk for those with a high level was 10 percent lower.

Vitamin D's impact on neurotransmitters, markers of inflammation and other factors could be behind its ability to reduce depression according to Dr Brown, who is the head of UT Southwestern's psychoneuroendocrine research program. "Our findings suggest that screening for vitamin D levels in depressed patients – and perhaps screening for depression in people with low vitamin D levels – might be useful," he concluded.

 

 

Last week, three prominent neurosurgeons told CNN interviewer Larry King that they did not hold cell phones next to their ears. Dr. Keith Black, Dr. Vini Khurana, and CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta all maintained that the practice could be unsafe.

Along with Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s recent diagnosis of a glioma, a type of tumor that critics have long associated with cell phone use, the doctors’ remarks have helped reignite the debate about cell phones and cancer.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, three large epidemiology studies since 2000 have shown no harmful effects. However, that the average period of phone use in those studies was about three years, which provides no information about the long-term exposures that could lead to cancer.

“What we’re seeing is suggestions in epidemiological studies that have looked at people using phones for 10 or more years,” says Louis Slesin, editor of Microwave News, an industry publication that tracks the research.

Fish have long been regarded as “brain food” because of their high content of omega-3 fatty acids.

Historically, omega-3 fats have been said to improve brain development and maintenance. Now, two new studies in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition provide further evidence for the beneficial effects of omega-3 fats, including better performance or preservation of your brain function as you age.

While numerous studies exist showing diets high in omega-3 fats lower your risk of dementia, these newer studies looked at the benefits of omega-3 fats among healthy people, with the hope that they would prevent progression to dementia.

More than 5 million Americans have some form of Alzheimer’s disease, and just as many suffer from vascular dementia, so preventing and slowing the progression of neurodegenerative disorders is a public health imperative.

The studies found:

• A diet high in fish and fish products is associated with better cognitive performance

• Higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids were associated with less decline in the speed-related cognitive domains

It often takes decades for dementia to develop and brain volume to shrink. These studies of the benefits of omega-3 fats on brain function offer an opportunity for early intervention to maintain your brain function and slow progression to dementia.

 

• American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 86(5), 1259-1260, November 2007

Lack of sleep may cause the brain to stop producing new cells. A study on rats showed that lack of sleep caused a stress hormone to affect the hippocampus, a brain region involved in forming memories.

Rats who were deprived of sleep for 72 hours had higher levels of the stress hormone corticosterone, and as a result produced significantly fewer new brain cells in a region of the hippocampus.

When corticosterone levels were kept at a constant level, the hippocampus produced a normal amount of new cells.

After the animals were restored to normal sleep patterns, it took two weeks for nerve cell production levels to normalize.

Older individuals with low levels of vitamin B12 are at increased risk of having brain atrophy or shrinkage. Brain atrophy is associated with Alzheimer's disease and impaired cognitive function.

Vitamin B12 deficiency is a public health problem, especially among older people.

In a study involving more than 100 volunteers aged 61 to 87, all participants underwent annual clinical exams, MRI scans and cognitive tests, and had blood samples taken. Individuals with lower vitamin B12 levels at the start of the study had a greater decrease in brain volume. Those with the lowest B12 levels had a sixfold greater rate of brain volume loss compared with those who had the highest levels.

However, none of the participants were actually deficient in vitamin B12 -- they just had low levels within a normal range.

Other risk factors for brain atrophy include high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol.