In a new study from Trinity College Dublin, researchers examined the link between folate and vitamin B12 status and its associations with greater risk of depressive symptoms in older adults.
They found that low vitamin B12 status is linked to depressive symptoms but folate is not associated with depression.
Deficiency and low status of the B-vitamins such as folate and vitamin B12are highly present in older people.
Some of the negative consequences of low B12 status can include megaloblastic anemia, impaired cognitive function, or damage to the protective covering (myelin sheath) that surrounds the nerve fibers of the brain.
In the study, the team tested participants aged 50 years and over who provided measurement of plasma folate and plasma B12 and screening for depression.
Researchers found that those with deficient-low B12 status had a 51% increased likelihood of developing depressive symptoms over 4 years.
They found that low B12 status linked to a much greater risk of depressive symptoms over a four-year period, but no such associations were observed for folate.
Those with deficient-low B12status had a 51% increased likelihood of developing depressive symptoms over 4 years in this study.
Researchers found that as age increased, the risk of depression decreased.
These findings are relevant given the high occurrence of incident depression and the high levels of the low-deficient status of B12 in the older adult population in Ireland.
These observations also provide reassurance for food policymakers that fortification of foods to increase levels of these vitamins could have the potential for benefits in the prevention of this condition.
If you care about depression, please read studies about treating sleep loss may prevent depression in older people, and findings that for older people, drugs may treat depression better than exercise.
For more information about mental health, please see recent studies about this depression drug can save COVID-19 patients, and results showing that this health problem may double your depression risk.
The study is published in the British Journal of Nutrition. One author of the study is Dr. Eamon Laird.
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