Vitamin D does not affect the risk for depression and diagnosable depressive symptoms in older adults, a large new study has found.
Among more than 18,000 participants without pre-existing depression, those who received active vitamin D3 supplements for five years had no significant difference in the likelihood of developing depression when compared with a placebo treatment group, reported Olivia I. Okereke, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Numerous studies have found a link between vitamin D and depression. But there have been few long-term, high-dose large-scale trials that look at causation, the researchers said. The current study is “one of the largest” to address the link, they said.
Although randomized trials have cast doubt on many more of vitamin D’s other presumed benefits, it’s not time to throw out your pills, Okereke and colleagues cautioned. The supplement is known to contain essential nutrients for bone and metabolic health.
Vitamin D deficiency has also been tied to dementia risk, and some clinicians support considering vitamin D levels in Alzheimer’s prevention and management.
Full findings on the current study were published in JAMA Network.
