Many people who suffer from depression, have endured a barrage of medical examinations, bloodwork, psychiatrictesting, counseling, and anever-ending see-saw of medications, dosage changesand different approaches to treatment only to later suffer from adverse reactions.
In lieu of this merry-go-round, a growing number of physicians are working with nutritionists to alleviate the manifestations of depression by adding vitamins, such as B-12 and folate, to the medication regimen.
Patient outcomes have been amazing.
Let's first find out about the importance of the B-12 and other vitamins.
How important is Vitamin B-12? The B vitamins play an important part in regulating the mood and emotional well-being.
For example, physicians often order a vitamin B panel for elderly nursing home patients suffering from altered mental status.
Elderly patients are particularly at risk for deficiency due to poor eating habits since, for them, the food no longer tastes good.
(This is because the number of taste buds has decreased).
Also, as age increases, digestion is not as efficient and deficiency diseases may also occur.
Vitamin B-12 is particularly important as deficiency leads to oxygen transport problem such as pernicious anemia.
This disorder can cause severe mood swings, paranoia, irritability, confusion and dementia.
Memory loss, disorientation are also possible.
People who are depressed usually eat poorly resulting in lower levels of essential vitamins and nutrients.
Also, depression is often accompanied by substance abuse such as alcoholism, drug abuse and wasting diseases which only aggravates the nutritional deficiencies.
In such populations, it is not uncommon to find lowered magnesium, calcium, phosphorus and thiamine levels.
All these factor can contribute to depression.
How much Vitamin B-12 do I need? Many people feel that consuming the RDA amount of vitamins should help alleviate the symptoms of this disease, but this is not necessarily true.
The RDA is only the amount to prevent deficiency diseases; the optimal amount of a vitamin is not necessarily reflected in the quantity.
This is a highly individualized figure, so it is best to be evaluated by your nutritionist or physician who will then review the entire diet.
And, if necessary, they may order blood work to get an accurate picture.
In summary, if you suffer from depression, it might be a good idea to speak to your physician or nutritionist about your diet and the need for supplementation.
Many patients who have gone through numerous medication adjustments have benefited nicely from dietary changes and supplementation with vitamins.
Also, it would be a good idea to avoid caffeine, nicotine, sugar, food coloring and red meats to start.
After these simple changes, many have reported improvements.