The Role of L-Methylfolate in Depressive Disorders

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 16.2 million U.S. adults suffer from depression. This chronic and recurrent illness is ranked among the nation's most common diseases. It is the leading cause of disability in the United States and carries a growing economic burden that recently tallied at $210.5 billion. Perhaps even more alarming is the fact that nearly half of all patients seeking treatment for depression will never reach remission¹. This is why many are turning to alternative and/or combination therapies, such as with supplemental L-methylfolate, in the hopes of improving those odds.

Biochemical Causes of Depression

Depression can be traced to an imbalance of three neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) in the brain which is responsible for regulating mood. Those neurotransmitters are serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Most of the conventional antidepressant medications on the market today are designed to address this imbalance. Unfortunately, 30% of patients will not get well taking typical antidepressants alone and will subsequently require additional supportive therapy.

Why Traditional Antidepressant Therapy Doesn't Always Work

As many as 70% of people who suffer from depression have a genetic defect that prevents their bodies from converting folate, either from food or synthetic sources, into L-methylfolate. This is the only form of folate that the brain can use to regulate the production of neurotransmitters.

People who are deficient in L-methylfolate are²³:

• 6 times more likely not to respond to traditional antidepressants
• Less likely to achieve remission
• 13 times more likely to experience a relapse of their depression
• At risk of depressive episodes that are more severe, last longer and take longer to overcome
• Produce less serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine (neurotransmitters that regulate mood)

Combination Therapy

As mentioned, a good portion of patients suffering from depressive disorders will not overcome their condition using antidepressant medication alone. As a result, many experts are recommending that patients take a more comprehensive approach, using a combination of prescribed and supplemental medications. The sooner this is done, the better since the subsequent faster improvement in mood can increase the likelihood that the patient will stick to the treatment plan.

In one clinical study, patients who did not respond to conventional antidepressants were given 15mg per day of supplemental L-methylfolate for a period of 12 months. Of those patients involved in the trial, approximately 38% had a full recovery from their depression. Furthermore, 51% experienced a reduction in the severity of their depression symptoms. Most notably, none of the patients who made a full recovery experienced a relapse of their depression during trials.

L-methylfolate supplementation is most effective in depressed patients who have decreased levels of folate or folate by-products in the blood and/or have been unresponsive to common antidepressant medications. If you suffer from depression and have not had luck managing your condition through conventional treatment methods, we encourage you to speak with your doctor to find out whether combination therapy with supplemental L-methylfolate would be a better solution.

Resources:

1. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/major-depression.shtml
2. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/disability/us-leading-categories-of-diseases-disorders.shtml
3. https://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/mood-disorders/economic-burden-of-depression-tops-200-billion/article/400468/
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3363299/
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27035404
6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14658985
7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16298109 
8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15323595