Vite D and Suicide

Preparation, Preparedness & Prevention Fitness and Nutrition
1

This is a very interesting paper on the correlation between D levels. This is not the first paper to find an association between D levels and mood disorders and such s well as mil populations (1) . It’s VERY important to not make a cause/effect conclusion from this, and I doubt very much suicidal thoughts/tendencies, in people are due to a simple deficiency in D, and there’s other nutrients that are essential for a healthy brain, mood, etc, but none the less, it does suggest healthy vite D levels (measured by simple blood test of 25OHD) are important and deficiencies, especially in mil populations, VERY common. Thus, people having nothing to lose and everything to gain by maintaining healthy D levels, as well as other key nutrients:

Suicidal patients are deficient in vitamin D, associated with a pro-inflammatory status in the blood.

Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2014 Dec;50:210-9. .

Abstract

BACKGROUND:
Low levels of vitamin D may play a role in psychiatric disorders, as cross-sectional studies show an association between vitamin D deficiency and depression, schizophrenia and psychotic symptoms. The underlying mechanisms are not well understood, although vitamin D is known to influence the immune system to promote a T helper (Th)-2 phenotype. At the same time, increased inflammation might be of importance in the pathophysiology of depression and suicide. We therefore hypothesized that suicidal patients would be deficient in vitamin D, which could be responsible for the inflammatory changes observed in these patients.

METHODS:
We compared vitamin D levels in suicide attempters (n=59), non-suicidal depressed patients (n=17) and healthy controls (n=14). Subjects were diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, and went through a structured interview by a specialist in psychiatry. 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 were measured in plasma using liquid-chromatography-mass-spectrometry (LC-MS). We further explored vitamin D’s association with plasma IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α.

RESULTS:
Suicide attempters had significantly lower mean levels of vitamin D than depressed non-suicidal patients and healthy controls. 58 percent of the suicide attempters were vitamin D deficient according to clinical standard. Moreover, there was a significant negative association between vitamin D and pro-inflammatory cytokines in the psychiatric patients. Low vitamin D levels were associated with higher levels of the inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-1β in the blood.

CONCLUSION:
The suicide attempters in our study were deficient in vitamin D. Our data also suggest that vitamin D deficiency could be a contributing factor to the elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines previously reported in suicidal patients. We propose that routine clinical testing of vitamin D levels could be beneficial in patients with suicidal symptoms, with subsequent supplementation in patients found to be deficient.

KEYWORDS:
Cytokines; Depression; IL-1β; IL-6; Inflammation; Suicidality; TNF-α; Th-1; Th-2

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25240206

(1) https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?149135-Optimizing-Vitamin-D-Status-in-Soldiers-to-Enhance-Physical-and-Cognitive-Performance

2

Very interesting. I think of the basic things that are prescribed for depression such as sunlight, sleep, diet, and exercise, and the role these things play in mental health.

3

A fair assessment I’d say.

4

Vitamin D deficiency is large scale since most Americans work indoors now instead of out in the fields in the sun. I take vitamins because my annual bloodwork has shown I had a vitamin D deficiency, too. My doctor said he sees that in the majority of his patients.

5

And it’s cheap and easy to correct.

6

I had an MD tell me once that he stopped even testing patients for Vite D level because almost everyone he had ever tested had came back low. He just told people as a general recommendation to add a daily D supplement to their routine.

7

I try to help my wife maintain a healthy D level every night. I mean, it’s just a little bit, but every little bit helps!

Seriously though Will, I appreciate your insights and sharing of medical concerns and knowledge. It brings some things to the forefront that some of us laymen would come across.

8

Naturopaths have been claiming for a long time that psychological disorders have a basis in physiological ones. I certainly don’t doubt there’s an element of truth in it.

9

I think vitamin D levels are just the tip of the iceberg. A biomarker, if you will, for the wider effects of lack of sunlight. I don’t think supplementing vitamin D alone compensates for the lack of sunlight. It’s just the one thing we’ve been able to quantify.

I intend to get a LOT of sun this summer, I look forward to seeing how it affects me.

10

I’ve lived far enough north where the sun doesn’t really rise high enough in the winter to do much, and it really messed with me. The sun rose at like 9am and set at 3pm, and at noon it would be just high enough you could see the whole thing over the tall buildings. Of course it was overcast ninety five percent of the time, so you never saw it anyways. I never appreciated how great it is living in a southern latitude until that experience. I also used to live in an apartment that had a tanning bed in the gym, and that did make a noticeable difference in winter.

Honestly, though, it’s really hard to get past the mental part, even with the tanning bed. I think the effects of living in a northerly latitude are almost entirely psychological.

11

Sounds like somewhere in Alaska. I won’t credit Vite D with Alaska’s highest in the nation suicide rate since we also have about the highest drug and alcohol abuse rates as well (maybe that’s because of lack of Vite D)… who knows (shrug)… I don’t take a Vite D supplement, but I probably should. Lack of light doesn’t bother me. I make sure I get outside every day regardless of the weather.

12

I think the suicide rate is fairly high there. It was common to have your train delayed because someone had jumped in front of it.

13

Suicide rates correlate strongly with locations with less daylight. It would be overly simplistic to assume that’s due to a lack of D exclusively (see OP), but as healthy D levels have so many benefits, it’s a no brainer to have levels checked and adjust accordingly.

14

2018, top 3 were:

  1. Montana
  2. Alaska
  3. Wyoming
15

This wasn’t any of those places, but probably about the same latitude. All I can say is it seriously messes with you. You literally want to hibernate.

16

Living in NE, I really disliked the winters on various levels, and moved to FL a few years ago. Life is way to short for it getting dark at 3;30, weather, etc. I always experienced some SAD, and it only got worse with age. F that.

17

Thank you for sharing.

18

It is my understanding that Vit D2 ( inactive form) needs sunlight ( UV B radiation) to activate it to Vit D3. What’s interesting is that UVB radiation is available during daytime between 10 am and 3 pm. Between Oct/Nov to Mar/Apr, above the latitude of Atlanta Ga, because of the way the earth tilts, the UVB radiation gets filtered out by the atmosphere during this time frame. This is why the more north you go the less Vit D conversion there is. I do not know if there is a latitude where no conversion occurs at all times of the year.

 What does this mean? The rate of stress fractures and nonunions/delayed unions ( bones not healing) are up especially during the 1st quarter of the year. This is confirmed by the bone stimulator sales during this time frame. It would be interesting to see if Suicides are temporal and if the first quarter has a spike. 

 Historically, Vit D3 use to be put in foods and even beer as an additive. In the 50s, a family with Williams Syndrome ( hypersensitivity to VitD3) in the U.K. died because of the additives so they were stopped worldwide. What’s fascinating is that in Finland, the year after they started to not put the Vit D3 in food, the incidence of Diabetes Type 1 skyrocketed. True true and unrelated? It would be interesting to compare the suicide rates pre 1950 and post.

It would be interesting to look at the suicide data through the lens of geography as well as time. Thanks for the post WillBrink.

http://breweriana.com/img/product/large/Schlitz_Sunshine_5172c7e04a8df.jpg

19

Lots of interesting points to unpack there. Here’s a solid article for those who want to get a full handle on vite D in terms of how to go about understanding the topic and do something about it:

https://brinkzone.com/vitamin-d-whats-the-optimal-level-and-how-to-achieve-it/

20

https://www.outsideonline.com/2380751/sunscreen-sun-exposure-skin-cancer-science