Effect of vitamin C on depression in menopausal women with balanced diet: A Randomized clinical trial

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Lecture of Midwifery, Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery of Hazrat Fatemeh, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

2 M.Sc. Students of Midwifery, Student Research Committee, School of Nursing and Midwifery of Hazrat Fatemeh, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: Depression is one of the most common mental disorder caused by stress. To combat with stress-induced chemical changes in biological systems, firstly antioxidant defense and then non-enzymatic antioxidants such as vitamin C, E and Beta Carotene are involved. The present study was performed with the aim of with improving stress-induced depression evaluate the effect of vitamin C on depression in postmenopausal women.
Methods: This double-blind, randomized controlled trial was performed on 150 menopausal women in Shiraz Hafez hospital at 2013. The participants were placed in two groups of vitamin C and placebo. The intervention group received 500 mg of vitamin C twice daily for six months and a control group received a placebo with the same method. Beck questionnaire was completed before and after the intervention and depression score was assessed. Data was analyzed with use of SPSS version 15 and Paired t-test and repeated measures of variance analysis and analysis of covariance. PResults: By comparing depression scores before and after the intervention, there was no significant difference between two groups (P>0.05) .Also, no significant difference was observed between vitamin c group (P=0.365 and) the placebo group (P=0.215) in terms of depression scores before and after intervention.
Conclusion: Results of the studies reported that the effects of vitamin C and other antioxidants is as an adjunctive effective factor in the treatment of depression and anxiety. This study did not obtain this result and requires further investigation.

Keywords


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