MONTREAL, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Vitamin C may help the emotional state of acute-care patients in hospitals, Canadian researchers say.
Researchers at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital and Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research conducted a double-blind clinical trial in which patients admitted to the hospital were randomly assigned to receive either vitamin C or vitamin D for seven to 10 days.
The study, published in Nutrition, finds the patients administered vitamin C had a rapid improvement in mood state that was statistically and clinically significant. There was no significant change in mood in those taking vitamin D.
"The lack of any effect of vitamin D on mood is good evidence we are not dealing with a placebo response," study investigator Dr. L. John Hoffer says in a statement. "This looks like a true biological effect. The treatment is safe, simple and cheap and could have major clinical practice implications."
Hoffer notes one in five acute-care hospital patients has vitamin C levels so low "as to be compatible with scurvy," but most physicians are unaware of the problem and patients rarely get vitamin supplements in the hospital.
