Depressed, stupid and tired in the winter

The winter beats many on the mind

09/12/2013

The days are getting shorter. One walks dark ones out of the house to work and returns in the dark also again. The gray winter months give rise to sadness and lethargy in many people. This can be due to a lack of vitamin D. Recent research has shown that a deficiency also adversely affects brain performance. Medically, the depressed mood is also called "Seasonal Affective Disorder Syndrome" SAD, which affects 4 million people in Germany. They can not find enough rest at night and are tired accordingly during the day. Winter depressions are associated with depressive disorders as a special form of affective disorder in ICD-10.

Lack of light leads to depression and memory weakness
Researchers at the University of Alabama studied the data from about 15,000 women and men with depression, examining the effects of cognitive abilities on daylight exposure. It turned out that the thinking apparatus of SAD patients is impaired. People who are predominantly in the dark, have a 1.4-fold increased risk, due to lack of sunlight, for a cognitive impairment such as memory impairment. But this only affects people who generally suffer from winter depressive moods. For investigator Shia Kent, the study's findings suggest that hormonal changes are the cause of cognitive impairment.

The production of the messenger serotonin, which is responsible, among other things, for controlling and influencing perception, sleep, the sensation of pain and pain processing, is reduced by the lack of light. Instead of „good mood“ Hormone is increasingly formed responsible for the day-night rhythm melatonin in the pineal gland and distributed. As a result, we tire more quickly and are increasingly knocked off. "Other studies have also shown that cerebral blood flow depends on daylight“, discusses Kent. A defect can therefore lead to an impairment of the cognitive ability.

Osteoporosis patients have similar moods
Scientists have found a similar effect in people who suffer from osteoporosis. You have a relationship between the level of vitamin D in the blood, the mood and mental abilities. This effect was observed by researchers from the University of Texas in patients with particularly low vitamin D levels, who also have a tendency to depression. Based on the data of 1000 elderly elderly people, it could be shown that the lower the vitamin D levels, the worse the results of memory and concentration tests.

The researchers led by study director Katherine Tucker have been able to demonstrate metabolic pathways in the brain in which the vitamin is involved. These occur predominantly in the hippocampus and cerebellum, both involved in the production of new memories. These findings prove that vitamin D deficiency is a trigger of depression and cognitive impairment, and not just as a result of it.

Just as important as vitamin C.
That vitamin D still seems to be involved in many other illnesses, Canadian researchers have been able to show in the past. Breast cancer patients who at the same time suffered from vitamin D deficiency have a three-fold increased risk of forming metastases. In addition, you have a 73 percent increased risk of dying within the first 10 years of discovery. Vitamin D, the experts agree, plays a central role in the body's defense against autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis. In the defense against respiratory tract infections, people with reduced vitamin D levels also show an increased risk by about one third.

Vitamin D is produced in the skin
Vitamin D, like serotonin, is produced by the absorption of sunlight through our skin. The more UV-B rays can be absorbed, the more vitamin D the body can produce. Even a day walk of 20 minutes is enough in winter for already.

Vitamin D supplements are not good for everyone
Vitamin D can also be harmful to health in overdose, and even promote the development of atherosclerosis and infarction. Healthy people should therefore abstain from dietary supplements with vitamin D. Foods such as cheese, fish, meat and eggs also have a positive effect on the vitamin D balance. But it can also affect the production differently. "A tanning visit every two weeks is usually enough to save the vitamin level from summer to winter," explains Morten Bogh, who is researching this topic at the University of Copenhagen. Naturopathy can also help. Numerous home remedies for winter depression have been reinforced in practice. (Fr)