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Home > Anti-aging Research > Antidepressants > SAM-e

SAM-e (S-adenosylmethionine)

Related Topics:

• St. John's wort / 5-HTP / SAMe / NADH / Omega-3 / tyrosine / acetyl-l-carnitine / DHEA / phenylalanine / ginkgo / phosphatidylserine / folate / antidepressants

• TMG / antidepressants / arthritis / St. John's wort

Specific Recommendations:

• SAM-e products at iHerb
• Vitacost SAM-e products
• Drugstore.com/GNC SAM-e products

News & Research:

• SAMe - Vitacost Health Library
• SAMe review - ConsumerLab.com, 4/26/07
• Report: Same - Life Extension Magazine, 4/07
• Patients Seek Natural Alternatives to NSAIDs - Clinical Psychiatry News, 7/05 - "SAMe appeared to be as effective as NSAIDs in reducing pain and improving functionality with fewer adverse effects than NSAIDS"
• SAMe - A Natural Compound that Offers Safe, Effective Relief from Depression, Osteoarthritis, and Liver Disease - Life Extension Magazine, 1/05 - "SAMe offers arthritis relief without the side effects associated with NSAIDs. Given its safety and tolerability record, SAMe supplementation is recommended for anyone interested in maintaining optimal liver function. Finally, SAMe is a valuable and effective tool for managing depression, offering a safe, effective alternative to prescription medications"
• SAMe Bioavailability and Lack of Toxicity in Humans - Medscape, 12/16/04
• Small Study Shows SAMe May Improve Treatment Of Depression - Science Daily, 12/9/04
• Dietary Supplement Ups Antidepressant Effect - WebMD, 12/2/04 - "Half the patients in the study reported significant improvement in symptoms when they took SAMe along with their prescription antidepressant for six weeks. Forty-three percent reported having no depression symptoms at all six weeks after adding the dietary supplement to their treatment"
• S-Adenosylmethionine (SAMe) - A Very Important Natural Product - Dr. Murray's Natural Facts, 6/2/04 - "SAMe is perhaps the most effective natural antidepressant (although a strong argument could be made for the extract of St. John's wort standardized to contain 0.3% hypericin)" - See iHerb or Vitacost SAMe products.
• Supplement SAM-e Helps Beat Depression - WebMD, 5/5/04 - "When SAM-e was added to their usual medication, half of the patients improved and 43% went into remission, Alpert reports. "These are quite strong responses and remission rates for a population that failed traditional therapy.""
• S-Adenosyl Methionine May Be As Efficacious As Celecoxib in Management of Knee Osteoarthritis, But Onset of Action Is Slower - Doctor's Guide, 5/4/04 - "During the first month of phase 1, celecoxib was significantly more effective in reducing pain than was SAMe (P= .024); however, by the second month of phase 1, patients in both groups had significant pain improvement from baseline (PS</i>] < .01), and no significant difference in pain was observed between groups"
• A New Era for SAMe - Life Extension Magazine, 6/03
• Cirque choreographer promotes new twist on joint health - USA Today, 9/9/03
• S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine Results Similar to Imipramine in Major Depression - Doctor's Guide, 12/30/02 - "A total of 146 patients received 400 milligrams per day of intramuscular SAMe and 147 received 150 mg/d of oral imipramine ... SAMe and imipramine did not differ significantly on any efficacy measure, either main or secondary ... Adverse events were significantly less in patients treated with SAMe compared to those treated with imipramine" - Note:  There seems to be conflicting studies on whether oral SAMe is poorly absorbed.  I've added absorption studies near the bottom of my SAMe page.  Maybe the difference is "Enteric coating" tablets.
• SAMe Beneficial in Treating Osteoarthritis, Depression, and Liver Disease - New Hope Natural Media, 12/12/02 - "More than 100 human studies have been published in medical journals showing that SAMe is a safe, effective treatment and, in the cases of depression and osteoarthritis, works as well as conventional medications"
• SAM-e Same As Drugs - Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals, 12/02
• Supplement [SAM-e] Found Effective As Antidepressant - Intelihealth, 11/6/02 - "The dietary supplement SAMe is about as effective as older, conventional antidepressants in treating depression, a preliminary, government-funded study says. It also finds SAMe to be comparable to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications in treating the pain of osteoarthritis. Such drugs include aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen"
• Expert Panel Finds SAMe Promising - WebMD, 10/10/02 - "As a treatment for depression, SAMe was shown to be as effective as antidepressants, and more effective than placebo. SAMe also had fewer side effects when compared with standard antidepressants ... As a treatment for osteoarthritis, SAMe had fewer digestive side effects than anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, yet was effective in relieving pain ... SAMe is a natural substance for the body, it's not a designer drug, and therefore can be carried in, absorbed into pathways," ... The L-dopa medication that patients take for Parkinson's makes them unusually SAMe-deficient "because L-dopa consumes vast quantities of SAMe, like a sponge, it mops up all the SAMe in the body." - See iHerb or Vitacost SAMe products.
• Government Report Concludes: Dietary Supplement SAM-e Equally Effective as Prescription Drugs for Depression, Osteoarthritis - Vitacost/Business Wire, 10/3/02
• SAMe aids arthritis without side effects - Life Extension Magazine, 10/02
• The Wizard is Oz - Life Extension Magazine, 11/01 - "Best-selling author and nutritional guru to the rich and famous, Oz Garcia is singing the praises of the Life Extension Foundation and its products in his newest book, The Healthy High Tech Body, published in September 2001 ... Supplements at the top of Garcia's list of recommendations ... DHA ... NADH ... Alpah Lipoic Acid ... Acetyl-L-Carnitine ... An expanded list of his recommendations includes lycopene, gamma tocopherol, vinpocetine, SAMe, folic acid, carnosine, glutathione, DMAE, Huperzine A, probiotics, MSM, secretagogues, arginine pyroglutamate, IP-6, bioflavonoid formulas and grape skin/seed extracts"
• Some SAMe Supplements Found Lacking, About Half Had Less of the Active Ingredient Than Labels Implied - WebMD. 5/29/01 - "ConsumerLab.com found that about half the 13 products it tested were accurately labeled as to their SAMe content. Some brands alleged to contain 200 mg actually had about half that, because manufacturers factored in not just the weight of "free" SAMe -- the "therapeutic" portion -- but also an inactive SAMe ingredient"
• Caution in Treating PD Depression - Nutrition Science News, 5/01 - "SAMe depletes dopamine and can produce PD-like changes in animals, causing cell degeneration in the nigra and striatum areas of the brain"
• Diet, Supplements, Exercise and Sauna - Life Extension Magazine, 9/99 - "TMG, on the other hand, is very effective at raising the levels of SAMe and lowering homocysteine."
• SAMe Needs The B's - Nutrition Science News, 7/00 - "users of this wonder pill should be aware that through the natural metabolism of SAMe, the amino acid homocysteine is created--a situation that can lead to artery damage and even heart disease. . . . .others have demonstrated that by simply upping one's intake of the vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid, this potential hazard can be avoided." - Note:  TMG is a precursor to SAM-e and lowers homocysteine instead of raising it.
• Depression Protocol - Life Extension Foundation
• Newsweek magazine, 3/22/99
  "...SAM-e appears comparable to state-of-the-art treatments for both conditions [arthritis and depression]. And unlike the leading drug therapies, it lacks significant side effects. Dr. Richard Brown [co-author of "Stop Depression Now"] a Columbia University Psychiatrist describes it as the 'best anti-depressant I've ever prescribed." "...it's cheaper than many prescription remedies. And if it lives up to its promise, it may be more valuable."
• The link between homocysteine levels and SAMe, plus... - Life Extension Magazine, 1/01
• S-adenosyl-L-methionine as an Antidepressant, Results of a MEDLINE Search - Ivan Goldberg, MD
• SAMe - IAS
• SAM-e: The antidepressant celebrity - CNN, 10/14/99
• SAMe Part 4: Treatment for Arthritis - Life Extension Magazine, 9/97
• SAMe - Part 3: The Liver Super- Nutrient - Life Extension Magazine, 6/97
• S-Adenosylmethionine (SAMe) - Part 2: Fast-Acting Natural Antidepressant - Life Extension Magazine, 4/97
• S-Adenosylmethionine (SAMe) An Exciting New Antiaging Therapy - Life Extension Magazine, 3/97

Abstracts:

• S-adenosylmethionine blood levels in major depression: changes with drug treatment - Acta Neurol Scand Suppl. 1994;154:15-8
• S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAMe) as antidepressant: meta-analysis of clinical studies - Acta Neurol Scand Suppl. 1994;154:7-14
• Oral S-adenosylmethionine in depression: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial - Am J Psychiatry. 1990 May;147(5):591-5
• The antidepressant potential of oral S-adenosyl-l-methionine - Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1990 May;81(5):432-6

Absorption Information:

• Intestinal absorption of S-adenosyl-L-methionine - J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1979 Jun;209(3):323-6
• SAM-e (S-Adenosylmethionine) - James South - "Because SAMe tablets are enterically coated, they should NOT be cut in half to achieve a lower dose- the SAMe may then break down before absorption"

Note:  There seems to be conflicting studies on whether oral SAMe is poorly absorbed.  Maybe the difference is "Enteric coating" tablets.

Other possible SAM-e suppliers:

Related Searches:

• Doctor's Guide search of SAM-e
• Doctor's Guide (2) search of SAM-e
• Intelihealth search of SAM-e
• Life Extension Foundation search
• Medline search of SAM-e
• Medscape search of s-adenosyl methionine
• The Natural Pharmacist search of SAM-e
• Nutrition Science News search
• WebMD search of SAM-e

Recommended Reading:

• SAM-e S-Adenosylmethionine : The European Arthritis and Depression Breakthrough by Sol Grazi, Marie Costa
• Stop Depression Now by Richard Brown, Teodoro Bottiglieri, Carol Coleman
• Sam-E (Faqs All About Health Series) by Richard Passwater, Dallas Clouatre
• Sam-E (S-Adenosyl-Methionine : What You Need to Know (Discovery Series) by Dallas Clouatre, Mary McMann
• The Sam-E Solution; An Essential Guide to the Revolutionary Antidepression Supplement by Deborah Mitchell

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