Seasonal affective disorder and latitude: a review of the literature

Mersch, Peter Paul A.; Middendorp, Hermine M.; Bouhuys, Antoinette L.; Beersma, Domien; Hoofdakker, R.H. van den

doi:10.1016/s0165-0327(98)00097-4

Cited by 185 publications

(102 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…In adr r dition, low circulating serum levels of vitamin D show a positive correlation with measures of type 2 diabetes such as insulin resistance and pancreatic betar cell dysfunction. 51 Adequate vitamin D during the prenatal period may decrease the risk of later development of schizophrenia 52 and lack of sun exposure may have a role in seasonal affective disorder, 53 mood disturbances 54 and on circadian rhythms (i.e. sleep/wake cycles).…”

Section: Vitamin D Insufficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Is the current public health message on UV exposure correct?

Lucas

Repacholi

McMichael

2006

Bull World Health Organ

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Current sun safety messages stress the importance of sun protection in avoiding the consequences of excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR), such as skin cancers, cataracts and other eye diseases, and viral infections caused by UV-induced immunosuppression. However, adequate exposure to UVR has an important role in human health, primarily through UV-induced production of vitamin D, a hormone essential to bone health. Vitamin D insufficiency may be associated with increased risks of some cancers, autoimmune diseases and mental health disorders such as schizophrenia. Here, we review the evolution of current sun exposure practices and sun-safe messages and consider not only the benefits, but also the detrimental effects that such messages may have. UVR-induced vitamin D production can be inhibited by factors such as deep skin pigmentation, indoor lifestyles, older age, sun avoidance behaviours and clothing habits that limit skin exposure, with deleterious consequences for health. There is some early evidence that sun-safe messages are beginning to cause a decrease in skin cancer rates in young people. After the widespread promotion of sun safety, it may now be appropriate to refine public health messages to take better account of variations between groups and their susceptibility to the dangers and benefits of sun exposure. Voir page 489 le résumé en français. En la página 489 figura un resumen en español.

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Section: Vitamin D Insufficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Is the current public health message on UV exposure correct?

Lucas

Repacholi

McMichael

2006

Bull World Health Organ

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“…Some studies report an association between latitude and affective disorders [94][95][96][97]. An alternate explanation is related with the unit of analysis, because results of individual-level studies not necessarily are the same as those observed when analysing populations [98].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other studies have shown that SAD is probably also associated with problems in serotonergic transmission, since patients under white light exposure treatment responded favourably [66]. Therefore, SAD could be a morbid condition affecting countries with longer winter seasons, even though the association not necessarily is entirely latitude-dependent, and other risk factors such as genetic susceptibility and socio-cultural context could also be playing important roles [67]. Recently, it has been argued the need to consider SAD as a well-defined psychology disorder, since DSM-IV-TR is still classifying it as a cyclic effect modifier in patients with mood disorders [68].…”

Section: Seasonal Affective Disorder (Sad)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiversity and Mental Health

Tagles¹,

Idrovo²

2012

Biodiversity Enrichment in a Diverse World

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“…SAD affects up to 9.7% of the population (Birtwistle and Martin, 1999;Rosen et al, 1990) and prevalence increases with latitude in the United States (Mersch et al, 1999). Left untreated, SAD episodes recur annually (Sakamoto et al, 1995).…”

Section: Seasonal Affective Disorder and Quality Adjusted Life Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating health utilities and quality adjusted life years in seasonal affective disorder research

Freed

Rohan

Yates

2007

Journal of Affective Disorders

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Background: Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) episodes will recur annually without effective intervention. Effectiveness of such interventions is traditionally measured with depression-specific tools (e.g., Beck Depression Inventory 2nd Edition; BDI-II). In a climate of potentially scarce resources, generic outcomes, such as Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs), are recommended for cost-effectiveness research. For treatments to be deemed cost-effective, they must show effectiveness relative to each other and relative to interventions across other disorders. To date, QALYs have not been used to determine effectiveness of SAD treatments. Given the recurrent nature of SAD, QALYs, which weight quality of life with time, are an ideal SAD treatment outcome. Method: A method to assess QALYs for SAD was developed using pilot clinical trial data. The method estimated health utilities, a measure of quality of life for a QALY, by anchoring pilot BDI-II data from the SAD clinical trial with previously derived health utilities for nonseasonal depression. Results: Relative to no treatment, median QALYs gained ranged from 0.11-0.18 over 1 year, depending on the intervention assessed. Discussion: Any treatment for SAD must compete with spontaneous spring remission, as illness severity attenuates in the spring. Limitations: Health utilities were estimated from the depression literature, and potential side effects from SAD treatments were not included in the estimates. The clinical trial time horizon was limited to 1-year. Conclusions: The proposed method offers researchers a tool to transform SAD efficacy data into a generic outcome for use in costeffectiveness analysis of SAD treatments.

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Seasonal affective disorder and latitude: a review of the literature

Cited by 185 publications

References 41 publications

Is the current public health message on UV exposure correct?

Is the current public health message on UV exposure correct?

Biodiversity and Mental Health

Estimating health utilities and quality adjusted life years in seasonal affective disorder research

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