Skarupski, K.A.; et al; \u201d Longitudinal association of vitamin B-6, folate, and vitamin B-12 with depressive symptoms among older adults over time \u201d, in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, published online June 2, 2010<\/p>\n
People often assume that depression is a normal part of aging, but it is a serious illness affecting 7%\u201349% of the older population.<\/p>\n
Depression in older adults is difficult to diagnose because of complications of medication treatment for other illnesses. Studies indicate that depression in older age is a greater suicide risk factor than in other age groups.<\/p>\n
Many studies have analyzed the correlation between B vitamins and depression, but few have provided evidence based on older populations. Biochemically, vitamins B3, B6 and B12 and folic acid are essential to homocysteine metabolism. High blood homocysteine may contribute to depression, dementia and loss of mental capacity in older age.<\/p>\n
Researchers examined whether adding B3, B6, B12 and folic acid to the diet might reduce depressive symptoms. The study included 3503 adults aged 65 or older who completed questionnaires on diet, supplements and lifestyle. Depression was assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). A score of four or higher on a 1\u201310 scale was considered an indicator of clinical depression.<\/p>\n
The analysis accounted for sociodemographic variables, age, sex, race, education, income, medication, smoking, alcohol, cognitive function, disability and general health.<\/p>\n
Participants with higher education and income and better cognitive function clearly tended to consume more B vitamins. Higher intakes of B6 and B12 were associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Each additional 10 mg of B6 and 10 \u03bcg of B12 was associated with a 2% reduction in the risk of developing depressive symptoms over one year.<\/p>\n
No correlation was found between folic acid intake and reduced depressive symptoms over time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Skarupski, K.A.; et al; \u201d Longitudinal association of vitamin B-6, folate, and vitamin B-12 with depressive symptoms among older adults<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[727],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-727"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n