The VITATOPS-Depression Trial

B-vitamins reduce the long-term risk of depression after stroke

The School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Western Australia, conducted this trial. 

The objective was to see if certain B group vitamins, taken either through diet or vitamin supplements, can reduce the prevalence of depression in people at risk, such as stroke survivors..

A randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled trial was conducted for 1 to 10.5 years in stroke survivors.    The B vitamins used in this trial were daily folic acid (2mg), vitamin B6 (25 mg) and vitamin B12 (0.5mg).   273 people completed the final assessment.

The participants who were assigned the B-vitamins experience a statistically significant reduction in the incidence of major or minor depression at the end of the trial compared with those who received the placebo.
 

INTERPRETATION: Long-term treatment of poststroke survivors with folic acid, B6, and B12 was associated with a reduction in the risk of major depression in our patient population. If these findings can be validated externally, B-vitamin supplementation offers hope as an effective, safe, and affordable intervention to reduce the burden of poststroke depression.

The information in this summary was compiled from the abstract on the PubMed website.