Vitamin D deficiency or inadequacy linked to mental illnesses

Italy: Vitamin D inadequacy or deficiency (VDID) is a global health issue affecting individuals of all ages. Vit D also plays an important role in mental health and cognitive functions. Now, a new study has found that Vitamin D deficiency is much greater in patients with mental illness than in the general population.

Vitamin D is nicknamed as 'sunshine vitamin and is one of the essential nutrients that is known to have diverse but potent effects on our body. In a country like India that is gifted with abundant sunlight, it's shocking to find that huge part of the population is suffering from vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is an essential component for a number of physiological functions such as muscle performance, bone metabolism, calcium, and phosphorus homeostasis and immunity. Lack of vitamin D in the body could lead to soft and brittle bones, constant joint or back pain, muscle pain etc.

The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry has found that VDID is highly prevalent in patients with mental illness, with only 18 (6%) out of 290 patients with mental illness (mostly bipolar disorder) showing adequate levels of vitamin D. The authors suggest that in order to prevent and treat VDID in patients with mental health, in addition to vitamin D supplementation, psychosocial intervention able to promote and help sustain physical activity, appropriate diet, quitting smoking and sensible sun exposure should be implemented, tested, and introduced in the clinical practice.

Vitamin D (Vit D), also known as the sunshine vitamin is an essential component for a number of physiological functions such as muscle performance, bone metabolism, calcium, and phosphorus homeostasis and immunity.

Factors contributing to a high prevalence of VDID in mental disorders include insufficient dietary intake of vitamin D, decrease in cutaneous vitamin D synthesis, excessive alcohol intake, poor exposure to sunlight, osteoporosis, osteomalacia, muscle diseases, depression, muscle diseases, and certain cancers.

Alessandro Cuomo, Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena, Siena, Italy, and colleagues conducted the study to retrospectively evaluate the prevalence and correlate of vitamin D inadequacy in a sample of 290 psychiatric patients admitted to inpatient or day hospital treatment at the University of Siena Medical Center.

They found that:

• Two hundred and seventy-two out of two hundred and ninety patients (94%) showed VDID.


• Physical activity and regular diet were positively correlated with vitamin D levels whereas age, tobacco smoking, PTH, alkaline phosphatase levels were negatively correlated.


• Statistically significant differences were found among smokers and non-smokers in all study groups.

"Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in patients with mental illness and is significantly influenced by lifestyle factors, such as diet, physical inactivity and tobacco smoking (this last with a strong and negative influence)," write the authors.

"As we already demonstrated for other conditions affecting patients with mood disorders, the development, and testing of standardized psychosocial healthy lifestyle interventions is warranted, as a key tool to promote and sustain physical and mental well-being of our patients," they concluded.

For detailed research log on to https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00167