Research Findings Linking Vitamin D Deficiency With Depression and Other Cognitive Disorders

Vitamin D is popularly known to help us strengthen our bones with its ability to assist our body in absorbing calcium; and the lack thereof increase

... research in the field of vitamin d the findings are astounding

Vitamin D is popularly known to help us strengthen our bones with its ability to assist our body in absorbing calcium; and the lack thereof increases our chances in experiencing osteoporosis, osteopenia, and risk of fractures. Additionally, several studies have pointed out Vitamin D deficiency as contributing factor for other chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis, breast cancer, colon and prostate cancers, and type 1 Diabetes. And in recent years, the link between Vitamin D deficiency and depression has been highly debated by various health experts, giving life to further studies that would determine the validity of such claims.

LOW MOOD and VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY

According to Michael S. Ritsner's Brain Protection in Schizophrenia, Mood and Cognitive Disorder, the most convincing evidence of a role for Vitamin D in depression comes from studies of patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD). SAD patients are thought to be exposed to less sunlight, thus, formation of Vitamin D3 might be abnormally low in these patients in winter. Furthermore, the book cited that Vitamin D deficiency or low serum levels of the precursor 25(OH)D3 is associated with low mood and depression in humans.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), is a mood disorder in which people experience depressive symptoms during specific times of the year, usually in winter where people don't get enough exposure of sunlight. In Sabina Dosani's Defeat Depression: 52 Brilliant Ideas For Healing A Troubled Mind 2nd Edition, a related findings that tackles the role of vitamin D to SAD is shown with study done by the Stockholm psychiatrists to a collected group of depressed patients that had been split into two. One group composed of patients who were depressed in winter and the other group composed of patients whose depression didn't change with the season. Patients whose depression has a seasonal pattern got a lot better with light box treatment, whereas, the second group who felt low whatever the weather didn't improve much with the light box treatment.

VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY IN OLDER PEOPLE LINKED TO DEPRESSION

... 300x252 Autism and Vitamin D Incidental Findings Gaining Attention

vitamin d 300x199 Vitamin D Deficiency, Fibromyalgia, Anxiety ...

Vitamin D Deficiency Causes - Sarcoidosis Treatments

Source : http://imentalhealth.net/mental-health-disorders/cognitive-disorders/research-findings-linking-vitamin-d-deficiency-with-depression-and-other-cognitive-disorders

Related video about Research Findings Linking Vitamin D Deficiency With Depression and Other Cognitive Disorders

Mental Illness In Children Anxiety Disruptive Mood Psychotic Disorders

Mental Illness In Children Anxiety Disruptive Mood Psychotic Disorders encognitive-com Low Vitamin DA Contributor to Mental Disorders in Children June 2 2011 Honolulu Hawaii Children with severe mental Research Findings Linking Vitamin D Deficiency With Depression and Other Cognitive Disorders

Commonly question about Research Findings Linking Vitamin D Deficiency With Depression and Other Cognitive Disorders

Question :

Vitamin D Deficiency and Fibromyalgia?

Has anyone with or know anyone that has been pretty much cured by taking extra Vitamin D. This is a site posting about it..hummm

The connection between fibromyalgia and vitamin D deficiency is gradually coming to a better understanding as more research studies are linking the muscular pain and weakness, experienced by fibromyalgia patients, to an insufficient intake or poor absorption of vitamin D in the body.

Several studies on both children and adult subjects have found that low levels of vitamin D in the body lead to unexplained bone and muscular pain. These findings have been received with excitement by health professionals because if the connection between fibromyalgia and vitamin D deficiency can be verified, the pain and weakness of patients suffering from fibromyalgia will be possible to treat with nutritional sources of vitamin D. However, this does not mean that fibromyalgia is simply a deficiency of vitamin D in the body; the latter is only a factor in developing or aggravating symptoms of fibromyalgia.

The Connection between Fibromyalgia and Vitamin D Deficiency

The observed improvement in the overall condition of fibromyalgia patients using vitamin D indicates a strong connection between the disease and the function of vitamin D in maintaining bone and muscular health. The role of vitamin D in contributing to the development of fibromyalgia is thought to be rooted in its metabolic function. Vitamin D helps in the synthesis of parathyroid hormone (PTH) in the body.

The parathyroid hormone serves to extract phosphates, especially calcium phosphate, from the bones. Combined with other factors, a failure to extract adequate amounts of phosphates from bones can lead to fibromyalgia. In case of vitamin D deficiency, the body is depleted in parathyroid hormone and hence an abnormal retention of phosphates in the bones may initiate a march toward symptoms of fibromyalgia.

Sunlight, Fibromyalgia and Vitamin D Deficiency

One linking factor of significance in the connection between fibromyalgia and vitamin D deficiency is a persons exposure to sunlight. Vitamin D forms in the skin upon exposure to sunlight for about 15 to 30 minutes. Limited exposure to sunlight on account of climatic factors, lifestyle, skin color, or any other reason, can result in vitamin D deficiency in the body, even when a normal course of nutrition is followed.

Health experts are now approving the idea that small amounts of unprotected sun exposure can be health-friendly, especially for patients of fibromyalgia. Since this disease of muscular weakness and pain develops slowly over several years, it seems reasonable to reduce the use of sunscreen while out on a moderately bright day and change a completely sun-protected lifestyle

Answer :
This is the answer I gave on another posting about thyroid hormones. Fibromyalgia has a very high incidence of co-morbidities (accompanying diseases)
It is very good practice when one is diagnosed with fibromyalgia to test for thyroid hormones. If thyroid hormones are abnormal, they must be corrected and this will help you improve. If you improve it does not mean that you don t have fibromyalgia!
If you do not improve your thyroid hormones will be checked again to make sure your medication dosage is ok.
Thyroid is not the cause of fibromyalgia and if you have thyroid problems it does not mean you don t have fibromyalgia.
Source(s):
Check this site: www.fibromyalgia-information-relief.com

The same apply to Vitamin D. However, the fact that fibromyalgia sufferers tend to stay inside decrease their ability to synthetise Vitamin D through sun exposure and their vitamin D levels may be normal to start with but can become lower a few years later. So it is a good practice either to take vitamin D supplements or expose to the sun or to review serum levels at regular intervals (every second year).

The site I gave you above does have info on nutrition that may help.

Question :

Biology in the news?

ok well i had to do a report but im not sure if this leans more toward health or biology. could i use this for my biology report?...........

Lack of Vitamin D Boosts Death Risk
Many people aren t getting enough of the sunlight-sourced nutrient, researchers say
Printer-friendly version Printer-friendly version

HealthDay

Monday, August 11, 2008

HealthDay news image MONDAY, Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Inadequate vitamin D could increase your risk of death by 26 percent, a new study concludes.

Yet many people are not getting enough vitamin D, which the skin makes naturally when exposed to sunlight. A nationwide survey found that 41 percent of men and 53 percent of women in the United States were not getting enough of this vital nutrient.

"The importance of vitamin D may be underappreciated," said lead author Dr. Michal Melamed, a clinical fellow at Johns Hopkins University. "There are studies that link low vitamin D levels to the development of heart disease, peripheral arterial disease, diabetes, hypertension and different cancers," she said.

The report was published in the Aug. 11 online edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

For the study, Melamed s team collected data on more than 13,000 men and women who took part in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Levels of vitamin D were collected in 1988 and 1994, and the participants were followed through 2000.

During more than eight and a half years of follow-up, 1,806 people died. Among these, 777 died from cardiovascular disease. Four hundred of these people were found to be deficient in their vitamin D levels.

"Those who had the lowest levels of vitamin D had a 26 percent higher risk of death from all causes compared to those with the highest vitamin D levels," Melamed noted.

The findings in this study confirm a trend seen in other studies linking vitamin D deficiency to increased risk for breast cancer and depression in the elderly, the researchers noted. Melamed s group had previously shown that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of peripheral artery disease (circulatory problems in the legs) by 80 percent.

Among other things, vitamin D is essential for maintaining levels of calcium and phosphorus in the body. "Vitamin D may be very important for overall health," Melamed said.

According to the U.S. Institute of Medicine, people should get between 200 and 400 international units of vitamin D a day. The best way to get vitamin D, naturally, is by being out in the sun.

As little as 10 to 15 minutes of sun a day can give you all a vitamin D you need. Vitamin D is also available in small quantities in foods such as fish and milk.

Whether vitamin D supplements are effective isn t yet known, Melamed said. "That s the million-dollar question," she said.

"I think people should optimize their diet and sun exposure to get an adequate level of vitamin D without taking supplements," Melamed said. "It may be a good idea for people who are at risk for vitamin D deficiency, including African Americans and people who don t spend a lot of time in the sun, to get their vitamin D levels checked by their doctor."

Dr. Michael F. Holick, director of the Vitamin D, Skin and Bone Research Laboratory at Boston University Medical Center, advocates high levels of vitamin D supplements to maintain good health. Vitamin D deficiency is probably the most common medical problem worldwide, Holick said.

"We know that being vitamin D sufficient reduces the risk of having your first heart attack by more than 50 percent, reduces the risk of having peripheral vascular disease by as much is 80 percent and decreases the risk of prostate, colon, breast and a whole host of other cancers by as much is 50 to 70 percent," Holick said.

In addition, not getting enough vitamin D also increases your risk for type 2 diabetes, Holick noted. By increasing your vitamin D intake to 800 international units a day reduces the risk of developing diabetes by as much as a third, he said.

Holick recommends taking high doses of vitamin D supplements, as well as sun exposure. In addition, Holick recommends taking as much as 1,400 international units of a vitamin D supplement every day.

HealthDay

Answer :
It seems to lean more towards health than biology. For biology, my guess is that you d need to focus on the biological functioning of the vitamin.

But I think, for a report, it will be sufficient, because it does deal with a biological topic. Medicine is largely based on biology.