New research in depression causes found out that supplements could help to stop this disease in depressed people that might have problems metabolizing the B vitamin folate. According to Dr. Ingvar Bjelland of the University of Bergen, vitamins are important, not only for the physical health, but for the mental health as well.

The researcher explains that folate might play an important role in depression, as the body may need the B vitamin in order to build substances in the brain because a lack of these substances may cause different mental disorders, including depression.

Depression arises more commonly in people who has high levels of the amino acid homocysteine in their blood and in those who have a form of a gene that encodes a protein involved in processing folate, under results of an investigation performed in Norway.

It is known that folic acid (the form of folate found in supplements) aid in breaking down homocysteine, which is a normal byproduct of metabolism. Therefore, Dr. Bjelland explains that the lack of folate and/or a disturbed folate metabolism may partially cause depression in some people.

The fact that folic acid supplements may encourage the effects of antidepressants, as suggested previous research, is supported by Bjelland. Results published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, may support the suggestion that folate may prevent depression, acording to the expert.

Researchers findings state that people who has relatively high levels of homocysteine in their blood were almost twice as likely to be depressed, in comparison to people with the lowest blood levels of homocysteine.

Bjelland obtained his findings after scanning blood samples from 5,948 people between the ages of 46 and 49, and screening them for depression and anxiety.