Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Depression
Jun-29-2012

Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a host of illnesses and conditions, from heart disease and diabetes to certain types of cancer.
Now a small study of three women suggests that vitamin D deficiency and depression may travel together, and that filling up the "vitamin D tank" may help relieve some of the symptoms.
Whether low levels of vitamin D cause depression, worsen it, or are a symptom of the underlying depression is not fully understood. "There is no solid proof that vitamin D deficiency causes depression," says researcher Sonal Pathak, MD. She is an endocrinologist at Bay Health Endocrinology in Dover, Del. "Large studies are clearly needed."
Her findings were presented at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston.
Pathak's study included three women aged 42 to 66 with depression, all of whom were taking antidepressants. The women were also being treated for type 2 diabetes or an underactive thyroid gland.
All three were deficient in vitamin D, with levels that ranged from 8.9 to 14.5 nanograms per milliliter of blood (ng/mL). Levels below 21 ng/mL are considered vitamin D deficient. Normal vitamin D levels are above 30 ng/mL, according to guidelines set by The Endocrine Society.

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