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VIDEO: Vitamin D, fish oil for prevention of late-life depression

ATLANTA — David Mischoulon, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses an upcoming study assessing vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids for the prevention of depression and improvement of mood in older adults.

VITAL-DEP, the depression endpoint of the VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL, is an ongoing randomized, blinded trial conducted among a large cohort of older adults.

“Another interesting thing about this study is that it also includes many individuals of minority backgrounds such as African Americans. This will give us a good sense of the broad implications of this study in populations of minority individuals and also in a population of individuals as a whole,” Mischoulon told Healio.com/Psychiatry. “Consequently when the study is completed, this should provide a lot of valuable information about the impact of vitamin D and omega-3 and the prevention of depression in elderly adults.”