Low vitamin D levels may be responsible for depressive symptoms, especially in people with a history of depression, a new study has revealed.

Low levels of vitamin D already are associated linked to a cavalcade of health woes from cardiovascular diseases to neurological ailments.

This new study by UT Southwestern Medical Center psychiatrists helps clarify a debate that erupted after smaller studies produced conflicting results about the relationship between vitamin D and depression.

`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,` said Dr. E. Sherwood Brown, professor of psychiatry and senior author of the study, done in conjunction with The Cooper Institute in Dallas.

`But we don`t have enough information yet to recommend going out and taking supplements,` Brown stated.

UT Southwestern researchers examined the results of almost 12,600 participants from late 2006 to late 2010. Dr. Brown and colleagues from The Cooper Institute found that higher vitamin D levels were associated with a significantly decreased risk of current depression, particularly among people with a prior history of depression.

It suggests primary care patients with a history of depression may be important targets for assessing vitamin D levels.

However, the study did not address whether increasing vitamin D levels reduced depressive symptoms.

The scientists have not determined the exact relationship - whether low vitamin D contributes to symptoms of depression, whether depression itself contributes to lower vitamin D levels, or chemically how that happens.

But vitamin D may affect neurotransmitters, inflammatory markers and other factors, which could help explain the relationship with depression, said Dr. Brown, who leads the psychoneuroendocrine research program at UT Southwestern.

The study has been published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Source: ANI
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