Low Vitamin D Levels May Increased Depression Risk

As I was reading the blog of San Mateo Chiropractor Dr Reza Abusaidi I came across an article entitled Low Vitamin D Levels May Increase Depression Risk.

As an Orem Chiropractor I know that depression medications are among the most frequently taken by those clients I work with.  I find that kind of ironic because my chiropractic practice is in area affectionately referred to as “happy valley.”  I wonder why so many people are taking these medications?  I’m not questioning the reality of depression or the problems and symptoms that accompany depression, I’m just wondering what has happened in our culture that has brought us to this point and what can be done about it.  With that in mind I found this article intriguing.

It was about four years ago that I started seeing a lot of Vitamin D research.  Since then vitamin D deficiency has been tied to many different conditions.  Vitamin D like other vitamins and minerals is used in a lot of different processes in the body.  When there is a deficiency all the processes that use that vitamin malfunction.  When malfunction goes on long enough it eventually becomes disease.

In his article Dr Abusaidi references a study that found depression is significantly increased in people with deficient level of vitamin D, when compared to people with adequate levels of the sunshine vitamin.

Vitamin D is referred to as the sunshine vitamin because our bodies can produce this with adequate sun exposure, all on their own.

Maybe this is why many experience the “blues” in the winter months – they don’t get enough sun exposure leading to mild depression symptoms?

In support of this idea researchers Bruce Ames and Joyce McCann point out that there is a wide distribution of vitamin D receptors throughout the brain.  They point out that this does not prove that vitamin D deficiency causes depression and that further research must be done to establish a definitive link between depression and vitamin D.

Data from the third US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey indicated that people with vitamin D deficiency were at an 85 percent increased risk of having depressive episodes, compared with people with sufficient levels. These findings are published in the International Archives of Medicine.

If you are looking for a San Mateo Chiropractic Clinic may I recommend Dr Abusaidi.  

Reza Abusaidi, D.C.
16 41st Ave.
San Mateo, CA 94403
http://www.greatback.com