Sunshine Could Be Therapy For Schizophrenia And Depression Patients

That is the title of this article I am reviewing today. "'People with psychotic disorders like schizophrenia might experience some relief if they spend more time in the sun. The International Early Psychosis Association has reported that research from Norway’s University of Oslo presented during its annual conference in Italy shows that low levels of vitamin D are 'associated with increased negative and depressive symptoms' in those patients, according to a statement. The research team was investigating whether low vitamin D could be linked to specific symptoms as well as to cognitive deficits in young patients. In both cases, a few hundred patients were studied; they showed a connection between vitamin D deficiency and negative symptoms and between the vitamin and 'cognitive impairments in processing speed and verbal fluency.'" Most people with schizophrenia cannot be in the sun for too long because the antipyschotics reacts to the sun and can give rash an other problems. Although can all do with less cognitive impairments.
The article goes on to say: "Vitamin D has many benefits, one of them being promoting calcium absorption in the body, according to the National Institutes of Health. It is also crucial in cell and bone growth and in immune function. Because our bodies produce it when our skin is exposed to sunlight, people who spend a lot of time indoors can become deficient in the vitamin, a malady that is common — and even more so in the winter. Associating sunshine with mental health is not a new idea. Low levels of sunshine, such as what is available during winter months in cold climates, is one of the things that drives seasonal affective disorder, a form of depression that follows the cycle of the seasons, the Mayo Clinic says."The only sun I recieve is when I am waiting for the bus depending on the time of year on how much I really get.  I do know that since I started geodon I do not have the problem with the sun that I had with the Moban it gave me a rash when I suntanned.  With the geodon I have went in the sun with no problem I do not know if that is with all antipyschotics.
The article ends: "'It has also been long suggested that spending more time in the sun could improve mental health. In one article from Issues in Mental Health Nursing, the authors say regulating vitamin D levels in people 'with depression and other mental disorders may be an easy and cost-effective therapy which could improve patients’ long-term health outcomes as well as their quality of life.' And there is a treatment called light therapy, or phototherapy, in which patients — such as those suffering from seasonal affective disorder — sit near a device that 'gives off bright light that mimics natural outdoor light,' the Mayo Clinic explains. A link to vitamin D has been drawn even to dementia and migraines. In the Oslo studies that looked at the link between vitamin D and the severity of negative symptoms in psychotic disorders, the authors concluded that the findings could be a first step toward investigating the connection in a larger sample size, according to the International Early Psychosis Association’s statement. They are also now using MRIs to look at the role of the vitamin in different brain structures.'"If this can help people with negative symptoms that would be great.  If it could help people with memory also I know they have a problem with that also.

Unusual combo reduces health risk from atypical antipsychotic

That is the title of this article I  am reviewing today. "Atypical antipsychotics, though effective for treating disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression, gives patients a heightened risk of developing new-onset diabetes. A new data mining study, however, has found a way to relieve this side effect. The study, published in Scientific Reports, shows that taking vitamin D ameliorates the risk of developing new-onset diabetes from atypical antipsychotics like quetiapine. The consequences of developing diabetes from taking antipsychotics are dire, as they occasionally cause life-threatening conditions and sometimes even death."Diabetes is no laughing matter.  I am diabetic only my is diet controlled and I walk for exercise.  Although I have not taken any medicine for it in five years it can always come back if I am not vigilant in what I eat.
The article goes on to say: "Members of Shuji Kaneko's lab at Kyoto University looked for potential antidotes on the US FDA's Adverse Event Reporting (FAERS) system, which is the largest database of self-reported adverse side effects. 'We found that patients who had coincidentally been prescribed vitamin D with quetiapine were less likely to have hyperglycaemia,' says Kaneko. 'It's unusual for vitamin D to be prescribed with quetiapine because it is typically prescribed to treat osteoporosis; in fact, there were only 1232 cases in the world where vitamin D was prescribed with quetiapine. Data mining proved helpful in locating these cases.' The team confirmed this finding with further tests on mice; the group of mice that was fed vitamin D along with quetiapine had significantly lower levels of blood sugar than those that took only quetiapine.'"  What also works to bring down blood sugar is cinnamon two five hundred pills in the morning with breakfast.  I have not tried it for a full three months yet because I was in the hospital and could not take it for awhile.  Yet when I did an A1C test my blood sugar was a 5.4 which is good because before It was 5.6 to close for me.
The article ends with: "'Interestingly, vitamin D on its own doesn't lower diabetes risk, but it certainly defends against the insulin-lowering effects of quetiapine,' elaborates lead author Takuya Nagashima. 'We clarified the molecular mechanisms of how quetiapine causes hyperglycaemia using datasets in a genomics data repository. Through this we found that quetiapine reduces the amount of a key enzyme called PI3K that gets produced. Vitamin D stops quetiapine from lowering PI3K production.'
Databases like FAERS aren't just for making drug regulations; they have so much potential for side-effect relief using pre-existing drugs,' says Kaneko. 'There's a lot we can hope for from reverse translational research like this'" Yes what ever works to help people because no one wants diabetes.  There are to many other things to worry about than diabetes.  To check your blood sugar everyday that was what was a total drag for me so I worked to not have to check and take medicine everyday beside what I always have to take which mostly a lot of supplements to make my life easier.

Vitamin D Deficiency Common in Schizophrenia

That is the title of this article  I am writing about. "A new study finds that vitamin D-deficient individuals are twice as likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia as people who have sufficient levels of the vitamin. Vitamin D, produced by the skin after exposure to sunlight, helps the body absorb calcium and is needed for bone and muscle health. More than one billion people worldwide are estimated to have deficient levels of vitamin D due to limited sunshine exposure. Vitamin D is often linked to seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression that occurs the same time every year and maybe attributable to a lack of sunshine. Schizophrenia is a mental illness with symptoms that include delusions and hallucinations." I believe we do not get enough of sun because the type of medication we are on. I know when I was on Moban I could not be out in the sun because it effected my body because of the medication.
Although they do not discuss that here: ‘"Since schizophrenia is more prevalent high latitudes and cold climates, researchers have theorized vitamin D may be connected to the disorder. This is first comprehensive meta-analysis to study the relationship between the two conditions,’ said one of the study’s authors Ahmed Esmaillzadeh, Ph.D. ‘When we examined the finding of several observational studies on vitamin D and schizophrenia, we found people with schizophrenia have lower vitamin D levels than healthy people. Vitamin D deficiency is quite common among people with schizophrenia.’ The researchers reviewed the findings of 19 observational studies that assessed the link between vitamin D and schizophrenia. The meta-analysis found that people with schizophrenia had significantly lower levels of vitamin D in the blood compared to control groups." Does that mean there is not that much schizophrenia in Florida because it is warmer? I think it is all over the world.
The article goes on to say: ‘"The average difference in vitamin D levels between schizophrenic patients and control participants was -5.91 ng/ml. People with vitamin D deficiency were 2.16 times more likely to have schizophrenia than those with sufficient vitamin D in their bloodstreams. In addition, 65 percent of the participants who had schizophrenia also were vitamin D deficient. There is a growing trend in the nutrition science field to consider vitamin D and its relationship to conditions such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and depression,’ Esmaillzadeh said. ‘Our finding support the theory that vitamin D may have a significant impact on psychiatric health. More research is needed to determine how the growing problem of vitamin D deficiency may be affecting our overall health." It can cause problems in ordinary people so it can also affect those with schizophrenia. A person just wonders how much it does.