Large study finds that placebo works as well as vitamin D supplements to prevent depression and improve mood

This study, called VITAL-DEP (Depression Endpoint Prevention in the Vitamin D and Omega‑3 Trial), was an ancillary study to VITAL, a randomized clinical trial of cardiovascular disease and cancer prevention among nearly 26,000 people in the US. From that group, Okereke and her colleagues studied the 18,353 men and women who did not already have any indication of clinical depression to start with, and then tested whether vitamin D3 prevented them from becoming depressed.” The Study: Effect of Long-term Vitamin D3 Supplementation vs Placebo on Risk of Depression or Clinically Relevant Depressive Symptoms and on Change in Mood Scores (JAMA). Key points from the study: Question: Can long-term supplementation with vitamin D3 prevent depression in the general adult population? Findings: In this randomized clinical trial that included 18,353 adults aged 50 years or older without depression or clinically relevant depressive symptoms at baseline, vitamin D3 supplementation compared with placebo did not result in statistically significant differences in the incidence and recurrence of depression or clinically relevant depressive symptoms (hazard ratio, 0.97) or for change in mood scores over a 5‑year treatment period. Meaning: These findings do not support the use of vitamin D3 in adults to prevent depression. The Study in Context: Study: To treat depression, therapy alone works better than therapy combined with antidepressants On World Health Day 2020, let’s discuss the str...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Health & Wellness adults brain health Brain-Fitness cholecalciferol depression improve brain fitness improve-brain-health middle-age mood neuroplasticity older-adults placebo supplementation VITAL Vit Source Type: blogs