Low Vitamin D Associated With Depression in the Elderly

Older adults with low blood levels of vitamin D and high levels of a hormone secreted by the parathyroid glands may have a higher risk of depression, says a report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

Witte J. G. Hoogendijk and colleagues at VU University Medical Center, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands, measured blood levels of vitamin D and parathyroid hormone and assessed the depression symptoms of 1, 282 community resident between the ages of 65 to 95. Of those assessed, 26 had major depression, 169 had minor depression and the rest were not depressed.

Blood vitamin D levels were found to be 14% lower in those persons with major or minor depression. In addition, parathyroid levels were found to be 5% higher in those individuals with minor depression and 33% higher in those with major depression. According to the authors, "poor vitamin D status causes an increase in serum parathyroid hormone levels."

It is unclear, say the authors, whether poor vitamin D status is a cause of depression or simply the result of it, but their findings could be important given that poor vitamin D status is so easily corrected with supplemental vitamin D or calcium and increased exposure to sunlight.