CODEX Archives

More reasons for defeating CODEX. (Archive in brain chemistry.)

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Misty L. Trepke
http://www.searching-alternatives.com

B-Vitamin Problems May Cause Depression in Some
By Alison McCook

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New findings suggests that some people with
depression might have problems metabolizing the B vitamin folate --
supporting the idea that supplements could help ward off the condition,
researchers say

Investigators in Norway found that depression occurred more commonly in
people who had high levels of the amino acid homocysteine in their blood,
and in those who carried a form of a gene that encodes a protein involved
in processing folate.

Homocysteine is a normal byproduct of metabolism, and folic acid -- the
form of folate found in supplements -- is known to aid in breaking down
homocysteine.

"Lack of folate and/or a disturbed folate metabolism ... may partially be
the cause of the depression in some people," study author Dr. Ingvar
Bjelland of the University of Bergen told Reuters Health.

Previous research has suggested that folic acid supplements may boost the
effects of antidepressants, an idea supported by the current study,
Bjelland said.

The results, which appear in the Archives of General Psychiatry, "could
even support the suggestion that folate may prevent depression," the
researcher noted.

Bjelland and colleagues obtained their findings by scanning blood samples
from 5,948 people between the ages of 46 and 49, and screening them for
depression and anxiety.

The researchers found that people who had relatively high levels of
homocysteine in their blood were almost twice as likely to be depressed,
relative to people with the lowest blood levels of homocysteine.

According to the report, depression was also linked to a form of the gene
for a folate-processing enzyme associated with poorer efficiency in the
breakdown of folate.

Anxiety, however, was not related to either homocysteine or the
folate-processing enzyme.

Although markers of folate metabolism appeared altered in depression,
actual levels of folate in the blood did not appear to differ between
people with and without depression.

Bjelland noted that while this result is surprising, measuring folate in
the blood may, in fact, be a "less precise" indication of how much folate
is actually in cells.

"In addition, in our study the laboratory method of measuring homocysteine
was more accurate than the method for folate," Bjelland said.

Explaining why folate might play a role in depression, the researcher said
the body may need the B vitamin to build important substances in the brain
-- a lack of which may cause depression and other mental disorders.

To Bjelland, the current study supports a simple message: get your vitamins.

"Vitamins are important, not only for the physical health, but for the
mental health as well," the researcher said.

SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry 2003;60:618-626.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030705/hl_nm/vitamin_depression_dc_1