Vitamin D and depression in older men and women

A study recently published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism adds more evidence to the importance of maintaining optimum vitamin D levels by investigating the link between suboptimal vitamin D and depression.

"We examined the relationship between 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and depressive symptoms over a 6-yr follow-up in a sample of older adults."

The authors measured 25(OH)D in 531 women and 423 men aged 65 and older while assessing them for depressive symptoms with the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D)over a 6 year period (and adjusted for relevant biomarkers and variables). When they crunched the numbers this is what emerged:

"Women with 25(OH)D less than 50 nmol/liter compared with those with higher levels experienced increases in CES-D scores [and]...significantly higher risk of developing depressive mood over the follow-up. In parallel models, men with 25(OH)D less than 50 nmol/liter compared with those with higher levels experienced increases in CES-D scores [and]...tended to have higher risk of developing depressed mood."

There are a number of ways that suboptimal vitamin D can contribute to depression (some of which you can read about among these posts). The authors did not investigate the causal mechanisms but settled with this conclusion:

"Our findings suggest that hypovitaminosis D is a risk factor for the development of depressive symptoms in older persons."