大型研究发现，维生素D并不能预防老年人的抑郁症

大型研究发现，维生素D并不能预防老年人的抑郁症

Vitamin D is known as the "sunshine vitamin" because your body absorbs the nutrient primarily through exposure to the sun.

维生素D被称为“阳光维生素”，因为你的身体主要是通过晒太阳来吸收营养。

Some researchers had thought insufficient levels of vitamin D may play a role in depression but the findings of a large study of more than 18,000 US adults ages 50 years or older published Tuesday has found no evidence of that impact.

一些研究人员曾认为，维生素D水平不足可能与抑郁症有关，但本周二公布的一项针对18000多名50岁及以上美国成年人的大型研究发现，没有证据表明这一影响。

"There was no significant benefit from the supplement for this purpose. It did not prevent depression or improve mood," said Dr Olivia I. Okereke of Massachusetts General Hospital's Psychiatry Department and lead author of the study, in a news statement.

“在这个目的上，补充剂并没有显著的好处它不会预防抑郁或提振情绪。”麻省总医院精神科的奥利维亚·i·奥克瑞克医生是这项研究的第一作者，他在一份新闻声明中说。

Half of the adults, who had no clinically relevant depressive symptoms at the start of the study, took vitamin D3 (one of two types of Vitamin D supplements) in the amount of 2000IU per day, more than the current recommended amount in the United States. The other half took a placebo. Participants were tracked for 5.3 years on average.

在研究开始时，没有临床相关抑郁症状的成年人中，有一半人每天服用2000IU的维生素D3(维生素D补充剂的两种类型之一)，超过了美国目前的推荐量。另一半则服用对照剂。参与者平均被跟踪了5.3年。

There was no significant difference in depressive symptoms or mood scores between those who took vitamin D and those who took a placebo, the study, which published in the medical journal JAMA found.

研究发现，服用维生素D的人与服用对照剂的人在抑郁症状或情绪评分方面没有显著差异。该研究发表在医学杂志《美国医学会杂志》上。

"The findings do not support a role for supplemental vitamin D3 in depression prevention among adults," the study said.

该研究称:“研究结果并不支持补充维生素D3在预防成人抑郁症中的作用。”

There were 609 cases of depression or clinically relevant depressive symptoms in the vitamin D3 group and 625 cases in the placebo group.

维生素D3组有609例抑郁或临床相关抑郁症状，对照剂组有625例。

Participants filled out annual questionnaires, and the researchers conducted face-to-face interviews with about 1,000 of the participants.

参与者每年都要填写调查问卷，研究人员对大约1000名参与者进行了面对面的采访。

The study was a randomized controlled trial (RCT), regarded as the gold standard of scientific research. It was also "double blind," meaning neither participants nor the researchers knew who took vitamin D and who had a placebo. It involved large sample population, of roughly equal numbers of men and women and with high racial and ethnic diversity.

该研究为随机对照试验(RCT)，被视为科学研究的黄金标准。这也是“双盲”，也就是说参与者和研究人员都不知道谁服用了维生素D，谁服用了对照剂。它的样本人口大，男女人数大致相等，种族和民族多样性高。

"One scientific issue is that you actually need a very large number of study participants to tell whether or not a treatment is helping to prevent development of depression," said Okereke.

奥克瑞克说:“一个科学问题是，你实际上需要大量的研究参与者来判断一种治疗是否有助于防止抑郁症的发展。”

"With nearly 20,000 people, our study was statistically powered to address this issue."

“我们的研究有近2万人，我们的研究通过统计数据来解决这个问题。”

Also, the findings were not applicable to younger adults or children.

此外，研究结果并不适用于年轻人或儿童。

The study noted that previous observational studies had found a favorable link between vitamin D and depression but said that this RCT and others hadn't found a link in a "rigorous experimental setting."

该研究指出，之前的观察性研究已经发现维生素D和抑郁症之间存在有利的联系，但这项RCT和其他研究并没有在“严格的实验环境”中发现这一联系。

Like all vitamins, D is an essential micronutrient, required in small quantities for normal cell function, growth and development. The primary function of vitamin D is to help the body absorb calcium and phosphate, thus keeping muscles and teeth healthy, and bones strong and less likely to break.

像所有维生素一样，D是一种必需的微量营养素，细胞正常功能、生长和发育需要少量的维生素。维生素D的主要功能是帮助身体吸收钙和磷酸盐，从而保持肌肉和牙齿健康，骨骼强壮，防止骨折。

The body makes vitamin D when skin is directly exposed to the sun. Indirect exposure, such as sun shining through a window, will not create vitamin D. Cloudy days, shade, living in high altitudes and farther from the equator also affect your body's production.

当皮肤直接暴露在阳光下时，身体就会产生维生素D。间接的暴露，例如透过窗户的阳光照射，不会产生维维生素D。阴天、阴凉处、生活在高海拔和远离赤道的地方也会影响你身体的生成维生素D。