If you’ve been suffering from depression, you may want to have your doctor check your zinc levels. A new study published in the journal Biological Psychiatry has shown that individuals who have been diagnosed with depression often have lower concentrations of the mineral in their bloodstream.
The study discovered that supplementing zinc in addition to antidepressant therapy may result in more effective or rapid improvement in a patient’s symptoms. Walter Swardfager, Ph.D. believes that this is because zinc deficiency itself may cause depressive-like behavior. Zinc supplementation reverses these symptoms.
This is not the first study to have pointed to zinc as a cause of depression. In fact, many studies that have measured zinc levels in both depressed and non-depressed patients have shown that depression may be associated with a lower zinc level.
For this study, researchers conducted a meta-analysis to see whether clinical evidence supported these results. The study was able concluded that the average blood-zinc concentrations did appear lower in depressed patients.
In addition, the study found that the more severe a patient’s depression, the greater the difference in zinc levels in control patients and depressed patients. This may be because of zinc’s antioxidant properties. Proper levels of zinc help the body maintain correct endocrine levels and support immune function. Zinc also plays important roles in regulating cognitive function.
Changes in zinc levels may compromise the brain’s neuroplasticity, and contribute to psychiatric and neuropsychological decline. Furthermore, low levels of zinc are associated with abnormalities in serum lipid levels, and fatty acid metabolism and can affect not only brain function but vascular health.
Low zinc levels have also been associated a common comorbid condition with major depressive disorder: cardiovascular disease.
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Source:
http://psychcentral.com/news/2014/01/04/depression-tied-to-low-zinc-levels-in-blood/64076.html
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