Coronavirus: Dr Chris discusses importance of vitamin D
The NHS recommends everybody in the UK to take vitamin D supplements daily from October to March every year. This is because more people spend time indoors and covered up in winter. How is vitamin D created?
In The British Journal of Psychiatry, researcher determined if there was any relationship between vitamin D and depression.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of numerous trials were conducted, which included data from 31,424 participants.
The researchers noted: “Lower vitamin D levels were found in people with depression compared with controls.”
They concluded: “Low vitamin D concentration is associated with depression.”
The peer-reviewed research paper was published by Cambridge University Press.
How is vitamin D created?
Medical News Today explained vitamin D is a “fat-soluble vitamin that the body produces when the skin gets exposed to sunlight”.
Symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency
A vitamin D deficiency may produce “no symptoms” confirmed Medical News Today.
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However, it can cause osteoporosis – thin and brittle bones – in later life, which is characterised by easily broken bones.
People are advised to speak to their doctor about their own vitamin D needs, but supplements can be helpful.
The NHS recommends taking 10mcg (400 IU) daily of vitamin D supplementation during the winter.
The Mayo Clinic added vitamin D also plays a role in insulin production and immune function.
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What’s depression?
The Royal College of Psychiatrists explained that everyone has times in their lives when they feel “fed up or miserable”.
It’s usually due to a particular reason, and it doesn’t interfere too much with daily life.
If these feelings linger for weeks or months, and they start to affect every area of your life, you may have depression.
Signs of depression can include the following:
- Feel unhappy, miserable, down, depressed – this feeling just won’t go away and can be worse at a particular time of day, often first thing in the morning
- Can’t enjoy anything
- Lose interest in seeing people and lose touch with friends
- Can’t concentrate properly and find it harder to make decisions
- Lose your self-confidence
- Feel guilty and unworthy
- Become pessimistic
- Start to feel hopeless, and perhaps even suicidal
In the body, you may find that you:
- Feel restless, nervous or agitated
- Feel exhausted and have no energy
- Can’t get to sleep or sleep too much
- Wake early in the morning and/or throughout the night
- Have a headache or stomach upset
- Lose interest in sex
- Can’t eat and lose weight or ‘comfort eat’ more and put on weight
Other people may notice that you:
- Make mistakes at work or can’t focus
- Seem unusually quiet and withdrawn, or are avoiding people
- Worry about things more than usual
- Are more irritable than usual
- Are sleeping more or less than usual
- Complain about vague physical problems
- Stop looking after yourself properly – you don’t wash your hair or your clothes
- Stop looking after your home properly – you stop cooking, don’t tidy or forget to change the sheets on your bed
Fatigue and sleeping troubles can be the first sign of depression, warned the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
It added that there is often more than one reason as to why someone becomes depressed.
Depression can be triggered by distressing events, such as bereavement, relationship breakdown or losing a job.
“If your life circumstances mean that you live alone or have no friends or family around, you may be more likely to become depressed,” the Royal College of Psychiatrists stated.
Illnesses can also lead to depression, such as arthritis, hormonal issues and cancer.
Those who experienced childhood trauma may also be more vulnerable to depression than others.
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