Depression in Older Adults is caused by Low Vitamin D

According to a fresh report, low levels of vitamin D and giant levels of a hormone secreted by the parathyroid glands as a rule increases the risk of depression in older adults.

The results of the Dutch study, published in the May subject of Archives of General Psychiatry, supports preceding speculation by researchers that vitamin D, depression and other psychiatric illnesses are linked.

The article's authors wrote that underlying causes of vitamin D deficiency - such as less sun exposure due to decreased outdoor activity, changes in housing or clothing habits, and decreased vitamin intake - may be secondary to depression. On the other hand depression may also be the consequence of poor vitamin D status. Which is more, poor vitamin D level causes an escalation in serum parathyroid hormone levels.

It was noticed that symptoms of depression often appear when the parathyroid glands are overactive and disappear after the gland context is treated. So it is supposed that as far as low vitamin D levels and high parathyroid hormone levels can be treated by increasing vitamin D or calcium in the diet and boosting exposure to sunlight, the findings can bring much hope to depressed seniors.

Actually it was estimated that about 13 percent of older individuals have symptoms of depression. Researchers at VU University Medical Center, in Amsterdam, found out that the vitamin D levels were 14 percent lower in test subjects diagnosed with major and minor depression compared with those non-depressed participants. Parathyroid hormone thyroid levels were an average of 5 percent higher in those with minor hollow and 33 percent higher in those with major depressive disorder than in those who were not depressed.

The researchers regularly measured blood levels of vitamin D and parathyroid hormone among 1,282 community residents over the age of 65. Symptoms of depression were also assessed, diagnosing 26 with a major depressive disorder, 169 with minor pit and 1,087 as not depressed. However, the authors of the study said that additional studies are needed to determine whether changes in levels of vitamin D and parathyroid hormone precede the onset of depression or follow it.