Depression cost-effectively reduced by 50,000 IU of Vitamin D monthly (Iranian teens) – July 2023

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Is vitamin D supplementation program in Iranian schools effective in reducing adolescent depressive symptoms? Cost effectiveness study

BMC Public Health . 2023 Jul 20;23(1):1393. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-16244-z.
Seyed Vahid Jasemi 1, Zhale Zandieh 2, Narges Zandieh 1, Mohsen Rezaei Hemami 3, Ali Darvishi 4 5, Zahra Abdollahi 6, Ramin Heshmat 7

Purpose: We aimed to assess the cost-effectiveness of the vitamin D supplementation program in Iranian adolescents reducing adolescent depressive Symptoms.

Methods: In the current cost-effectiveness analysis, the viewpoint of Iran's Ministry of Health was selected. The target population was 1,519,762 Iranian high school students (733,657 girls and 786,105 boys). The total costs of the vitamin D supplementations program were based on the reports of the Nutrition Improvement Office of Iran's Ministry of Health and were adjusted to 2018. The variable of Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) was considered a suitable variable for estimating the effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation. We chose one year as the time horizon. A decision tree model was constructed in TreeAge Pro. The results of the cost-effectiveness analysis were reported in term of the Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratio (ICER).

Results: The results of our study showed that the estimated cost per QALY gained of the vitamin D supplementation program is equal to 1528.6676 $, which indicates that vitamin D supplementation in adolescents(11-18Y) is a cost-effective and a dominant strategy in preventing depression through the cost-saving and QALYs increment compared to the no intervention. Sensitivity analysis showed that the possible variations in vitamin D supplement costs could not alter the results, and vitamin D supplementation may be a predominant and cost-effective strategy to prevent adulthood depression with a 100% probability.

Conclusion: The national program of vitamin D supplementation among Iranian adolescents was a cost-efficient strategy reducing adolescent depressive Symptoms through the cost-saving and QALYs increment compared to the no intervention.
 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

1,185,211 teens received 50,000 IU Vitamin D monthly

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26 studies have both CASPIAN and Vitamin D in the title as of Nov 2024

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224 studies have both IRAN and Vitamin D in the title as of Nov 2024

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• Vitamin D deficiency prevention policies in Iran: a retrospective policy analysis - August 2023 FREE PDF

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VitaminDWiki – Depression contains

• Low vitamin D is associated with most types of depression, Including: Seasonal Affective Disorder. manic depression, bipolar disorder, dysthymia, Depression during/after pregnancy, Seniors, Suicide
• Depression substantially reduced by Vitamin D, Omega-3, Magnesium, etc – many studies
• Depression 1.6 X more likely if low Vitamin D, taking Vitamin D reduces depression – umbrella of meta-analyses – Jan 2023
• Depression: Low vitamin D in the strongest of 11 risk factors – Jan 2023
• Yet another study confirms Depression is treated by weekly Vitamin D (50,000 IU)– RCT Dec 2019
• Depression treated by Omega-3 (again) – meta-analysis Aug 2019
• Supplementing with Vitamin D (or getting more sun) decreases most types of depression as well as drugs
• Omega-3, Magnesium, and St. Johns' Wort also decrease depression
  • Speculate that some combination (Vit D, Omega-3, Mg, St John's) will decrease depression even more
  • Note: Both Omega-3 and Magnesium increase the amount of vitamin D which gets to tissues
• Antidepressants reduce cellular Vitamin D, increasing fractures, CVD, etc. - Oct 2022
• There are 268 items in the Depression category in VitaminDWiki

Some recent publications

• Depression in seniors greatly reduced by Vitamin D (50,000 IU weekly) – meta-analysis June 2023
• Depression reduced if take more than 5,000 IU of vitamin D daily – umbrella meta-analysis – Jan 2023
• Post-partum depression and low Vitamin D - many studies
• Depression: Low vitamin D in the strongest of 11 risk factors – Jan 2023

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Intervention of Vitamin D for Depression

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Meta-analyses of Vitamin D and Depression

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20+ VitaminDWiki pages have COST-EFFECTIVE in the title

This list is automatically updated

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VitaminDWiki - Cost savings with Vitamin D 158 studies :

158 items include:

• Vitamin D has been found to be cost-effective by many studies
• Estimated cost savings of getting most Canadians to 40 ng of Vitamin D - 2016
• Severe asthmatics willing to pay 5180 dollars for relief, Vitamin D needed costs only 45 dollars – Sept 2023
• People with extremely low vitamin D levels consume 2X more health care dollars – 2018
• Reduce 4 health problems by a quarter if increase Vitamin D to 30 ng – Saudi Arabia, Grant March 2023
• The top 10 medical expenses can all be decreased by vitamin D
• VA showed increased vitamin D associated with lower health costs - Lancet May 2012
• Diabetes prevented by 50,000 IU vitamin D monthly (Iran) – Jan 2022
• People with extremely low vitamin D levels consume 2X more health care dollars – 2018
• Giving free vitamin D to every Iranian would pay for itself by just reducing CVD – Oct 2021
• Heart attack ICU costs cut in half by Vitamin D – Oct 2018
• Medical problems are thought to be a cause of 66 percent of bankruptcies – April 2019
• Vitamin D is the 3rd most important contributor to health, following exercise and food
• 10 fewer days of ICU Mechanical Ventilation 300,000 IU injection of vitamin D – RCT March 2019
• Employers gain 10 dollars in productivity for every dollar spent on giving Vitamin D for free
• Employers should give night shift workers free vitamin D – GMB Union June 2019
• Biology of Vitamin D – 30ng min., 50ng preferred, 1000X lower cost than health problem – Feb 2019
• Dutch Vitamin D cost-effectivity Calculations (they prescribe 100,000 IU for Multiple Sclerosis) – Jan 2022
• Vitamin D is needed before most surgeries – many studies and RCTs
• 10 fewer days of ICU Mechanical Ventilation 300,000 IU injection of vitamin D – RCT March 2019
• ICU cost reduced by at least 27,000 dollars if get high dose vitamin D in first week - April 2017
• If you cannot readily get medical treatment, consider Alternative Med such as vitamin D

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