Vitamin B12 supplementation: Preventing onset and improving prognosis of depression

Depression is a widespread mental health disease that affects people of all ages, ethnicities, and socioeconomic groups. Depression phenotypes may include hormonal derangements, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular illness, deficiencies, inflammatory disorders, or neurodegenerative disorders. Although there are many different ways to treat depression, it remains a significant worldwide health issue that needs more focus. In this review aimed to demonstrate a link between vitamin B12 and depression, Sangle et al. (2020) gathered relevant articles and papers (n = 35), revealing that supplementing with Vitamin B12 early enough can enhance the impact of anti-depressants and slow down the onset of depression. The authors primarily focused on Vitamin B12 to give concerned professionals a foundation to address this issue with patients prone to depression or who have experienced a major depressive episode, even though other vitamins like Vitamin B6 and folate are known to have a favorable effect on depression. [NPID: Serum vitamin B12, depression prevention, hyperhomocysteinemia, neuropsychiatric]

Year: 2020

Reference: Sangle, P., Sandhu, O., Aftab, Z., Anthony, A. T., & Khan, S. (2020). Vitamin B12 Supplementation: Preventing Onset and Improving Prognosis of Depression. Cureus, 12(10), e11169. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.11169

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