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Vitamin B may improve schizophrenia symptoms
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Preliminary findings indicated vitamin B supplementation improved psychiatric symptoms among individuals with schizophrenia.
“Looking at all of the data from clinical trials of vitamin and mineral supplements for schizophrenia to date, we can see that B vitamins effectively improve outcomes for some patients,” Joseph Firth, a PhD student at the University of Manchester, England, said in a press release. “This could be an important advance, given that new treatments for this condition are so desperately needed.”
To assess the effects of vitamin and mineral supplementation for schizophrenia symptoms, researchers conducted a systematic review of all randomized controlled trials that explored vitamin and mineral supplementation for psychiatric symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia. Analysis included 18 studies among 832 participants.
Pooled effects indicated vitamin B supplementation, including B6, B8 and B12, reduced psychiatric symptoms significantly more than control conditions (P = .047).
Similar associations were found for vitamin B based on intention-to-treat analyses (P = .051). However, vitamin B did not affect individual domains of positive and negative symptoms (P > .1 for both).
Meta-regression analyses indicated shorter illness duration was associated with greater vitamin B efficacy (P = .001).
Antioxidant vitamins, inositol and dietary minerals did not affect psychiatric symptoms.
“This builds on existing evidence of other food-derived supplements, such as certain amino-acids, been beneficial for people with schizophrenia,” Jerome Sarris, PhD, of Western Sydney University, said in the release. “These new findings also fit with our latest research examining how multi-nutrient treatments can reduce depression and other disorders.” – by Amanda Oldt
Disclosure: Firth reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the study for a full list of relevant financial disclosures.