Is Vitamin D the New Antidepressant?

Abstract

Depression is characterized by a depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure in almost all daily activities for a period of at least two weeks. Depression is a common mental disorder, characterized by feeling blue, and disturbed appetite, sleeping disturbances, poor concentration and loss of interest in daily activities (WHO, 2011). There are many systematic reviews studies of Vitamin D and depression have formed reliable results and generally have had strong methodological. Recent findings from a randomized trial propose that high doses of supplemental Vitamin D may improve depressive symptoms. Overall, the summary estimates of all analyses propose a correlation between Vitamin D and depression. It point out that quality of evidence from each study is high. The observational studies to date offer some evidence for an association between Vitamin D deficiency and depression, but RCTs are immediately wanted to conclude whether Vitamin D can prevent and treat depression in longitudinal study.

Keywords: depression, Vitamin D deficiency, literature review