Fwd: SAMe: Safe All-Natural Antidepressant

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SAMe: Safe All-Natural Antidepressant

 

Available Forms-

SAMe has been available commercially in Europe since 1975.

It is available in U.S. health-food stores as a nutritional

supplement.

 

The commercial form of SAMe is a stabilized salt produced under U.S.

patent numbers 3,954,726 (1976) and 4,057,686 (1977).

 

Principal Uses

There are five principal conditions where SAMe is used:

 

Depression,

Bi-polar,

osteoarthritis,

Fibromyalgia,

liver disorders,

and migraine headaches.

 

Depression

 

SAMe is necessary in the manufacture of important brain compounds

such as neurotransmitters and phospholipids like phosphatidylcholine

and phosphatidylserine.

 

Supplementing the diet with SAMe in depressed patients results in

increased levels of serotonin, dopamine, and

phosphatidylserine.

 

It improves binding of neurotransmitters to receptor sites, which

causes increased serotonin and dopamine

activity and improved brain cell membrane fluidity, all resulting in

significant clinical improvement.

 

The antidepressive effects of folic acid (Vitamin B6) are mild

compared to the effects noted in clinical trials using SAMe.

 

Based on results from a number of clinical studies,

it appears that SAMe is perhaps the most effective natural

antidepressant and mood stabilizer,

(although a strong argument could be made for the extract of St.

John's Wort standardized to contain 0.3 percent hypericin) summarize

double-blind studies comparing SAMe to either a placebo or an

antidepressant drug.

 

Many of the studies cited used injectable SAMe. However, more recent

studies using a new oral preparation at a dosage

of 400 milligrams four times daily (1600 mg total) demonstrate that

SAM is just as effective orally as it is intravenously.

 

SAM is better tolerated and has a quicker onset of antidepressant

action than

 

*tricyclic* antidepressants.

 

One of the ways tricyclic drugs exert antidepressive effects is by

raising SAMe levels.

 

In addition to generalized depression, there are two conditions

associated with depression where SAMe produces significant effects:

the postpartum (after pregnancy) period and drug rehabilitation.

 

SAMe's benefits in these conditions probably stem from a combination

of its effects on brain chemistry and liver function.

 

In the study in postpartum depression (after-pregnancy " blues " ), the

administration of SAMe (1,600 milligrams per day) produced

significantly

better mood scores than a placebo group.

 

As for the use of SAMe in drug detoxification, SAMe (1,200

milligrams daily) significantly reduced psychological distress

(chiefly anxiety and depression) in the

detoxification and rehabilitation of opiate abusers.

 

 

-Adenosylmethionine (SAMe)is an important *physiological* agent

formed in the body by combining the essential amino

acid methionine with adenosyl-triphosphate (ATP).

 

SAMe was discovered in Italy in 1952-- not surprisingly, most of the

research on SAMe has been conducted in the country of its discovery.

 

Food Sources

 

Because SAMe is manufactured from methionine,

you might think that dietary sources of methionine provide the same

benefits as SAMe.

 

However, high doses of methionine do NOT increase levels of SAMe,

NOR do they provide the same pharmacological activity as SAMe.

 

Deficiency Signs and Symptoms

 

Normally the body manufactures all the SAMe it needs from the amino

acid methionine.

 

However, a deficiency of methionine, vitamin B12, or folic acid can

result in decreased SAMe synthesis.

In addition, tissue levels of SAM are typically low in the elderly

and in patients suffering from osteoarthritis, depression,and

various liver disorders.

 

Beneficial Effects

 

SAM is involved in over 40 biochemical reactions in the body.

 

It functions closely with folic acid and vitamin B12

in " methylation " reactions--the process of adding a single carbon

unit (a methyl group) to another molecule.

 

SAM is many times more effective in transferring

methyl groups than other methyl donors. Methylation reactions are

critical in the manufacture of many body components--- especially

brain chemical --and in detoxification reactions.

 

SAM is also required in the manufacture of all sulfur-containing

compounds in the human body, including glutathione and various

sulfur-containing cartilage components. The beneficial effects of

SAMe supplementation are far-reaching because of its central role in

so many metabolic processes.

 

 

 

JoAnn Guest

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Dieta-

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