Vitamin D- Is This the Miracle Vitamin by Ian Wishart

Author:Ian Wishart
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780987657312
Publisher: Howling At The Moon Publishing Ltd
Published: 2012-08-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

MENTAL ILLNESS

“Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are both highly prevalent in adolescents with severe mental illness”

– BMC Journal of Psychiatry, 2012

We’ve seen in the previous chapter how a lack of vitamin D during pregnancy can increase the risk of a child developing mental illness. The good news is that in some cases vitamin D can help bring mental illness under control.

The Endocrine Society conference in the US has heard how a group of three women previously diagnosed with major depressive disorder had their lives turned around by the sunshine vitamin. All were on anti-depressants, and had underlying medical conditions including Type 2 diabetes or an underactive thyroid.

Blood tests showed their vitamin D levels had dropped to between 8.9 ng/ml and 14.5 ng/ml – well into deficient and seriously deficient territory. After two to three months of vitamin D supplementation their serum 25(OH)D levels were restored to a healthy 32 to 38 ng/ml.

Using the Beck Depression Inventory, a 21-point survey that rates levels of depression and sadness, one patient moved from clinical severe depression (32 points at baseline) to mild depression (12 points) on completion. Another fell from 26 points (moderate depression) to 8 points (clinically minimal depression), while the third patient moved from moderate to mild.

Sonal Pathak, the US endocrinologist presenting the study, says the implications are fascinating and important:

“Vitamin D may have an as-yet-unproven effect on mood, and its deficiency may exacerbate depression…Screening at-risk depressed patients for vitamin D deficiency and treating it appropriately may be an easy and cost-effective adjunct to mainstream therapies for depression,” he said.[1]

The impact of vitamin D deficiency is widespread. A New Zealand study has found the disorder is common in psychiatric inpatients, schizophrenics and in particular darker-skinned Maori patients.

The research, led by David Menkes at the Waikato Clinical School, reveals 91% of the 102 inpatients studied had sub-optimal (below 30 ng/ml) or deficient vitamin D. Broken down further, 74% were below 20 ng/ml (50 nmol/L), and 19% had less than 10 ng/ml (25 nmol/L).

Schizophrenics were most likely to be severely deficient – 34% of them fell into the lowest bracket compared with 9% of the rest. Bi-polar sufferers, whilst still deficient at 19.8 ng/ml, had the highest average vitamin D levels in the sample.

“The observed prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in our psychiatric inpatient population supports the idea that supplementation should be more generally available, and perhaps routinely prescribed, given its low cost, lack of adverse effects and multiple potential benefits,” Menkes wrote in the study.[2]

An American study has reported similar results. Of 104 adolescents receiving acute mental health treatment, 34% had less than 20 ng/ml of vitamin D in their blood, 38% were sub-optimal (between 20 ng/ml and 30 ng/ml), with 28% normal.

Adolescents with psychotic behaviour were three and a half times more likely to be in the lowest vitamin D range.

“Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are both highly prevalent in adolescents with severe mental illness,” they concluded.[3]

[1] “Treating vitamin D deficiency may improve depression among women,” Allison Cerra, DrugstoreNews, www.drugstorenews.com/article/treating-vitamin-d-deficiency-may-improve-depression-among-women

[2]

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