Low Levels Of Vitamin D Linked With Increased Negative And Depressive Symptoms

It is a known fact the vitamin D can be taken through sun exposure, but in the United Kingdom, where it's most often dreary, it's very difficult to get a dose of vitamin D. According to a new study, lack of the vitamin has been known to be associated with increased symptoms of depression.

According to Health Business UK, a new study has recently discovered that a lack of vitamin D can increase depressive symptoms. The news broke out after the government announced that Britons should take vitamin D supplements, especially during the darker months. Vitamin D deficiency is commonly associated with bone conditions such as rickets and osteoporosis, but it can also affect muscle tissue and has been found to be associated with normal levels of dopamine, a chemical linked to mood, in the brain.

For the study, researchers tested the levels of vitamin D among 225 people who are being treated for psychotic disorders and on 159 people who were mentally healthy. The study indicated that they found a significant association between low levels of vitamin D and increased negative symptoms and depression. It also identified a significant link to reduced verbal fluency and cognitive impairments.

In a report by Independent, Dr. Peter Selby, of Manchester University, who has studied vitamin D, commented on the report and said that it was plausible that low levels might have a depressive effect: "We know vitamin D levels are important for things like muscle function as well as bone function. And muscle function isn't a million miles removed from nerve function.

"A lot of people with low vitamin D levels ... they've not got quite as much get up and go, they've got a few more aches and pains, that sort of thing. If you are depressive, you are less likely to get out and about, you're less likely to see the sun [and therefore have less vitamin D]."

In a paper in the journal Schizophrenia Research, the researchers from Norway suggested that vitamin D could be used to help treat patients. "In a clinical setting, this could support vitamin D as adjuvant therapy in treating co-morbid depressions in psychotic disorders," they wrote.

"The associations between low vitamin D levels and increased negative and depressive symptoms, and decreased [mental] processing speed and verbal fluency are good arguments for planning large scale randomized controlled studies in target populations, in order to reach conclusions about vitamin D's potential beneficial effect in psychotic disorders," reported Medical Xpress.

The researchers are currently running studies investigating potential associations between vitamin D levels and brain structures as measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).