Posted by tgregory on October 1, 1999, at 21:01:14
In reply to Re: SAMe, posted by saint james on October 1, 1999, at 17:55:32
> > Based on several recent newspaper articles, and ongoing
> > patient demand for "natural" treatments for depression,
> > I have recently been telling selected patients about
> > s-adenosylmethionine (SAMe), with some surprisingly
> > encouraging preliminary results.> James here....
>
> The problem here is that depression is not caused by a lack of nutrents taken into the body. Nor is it cause by a "lack" of neurotransmitters, though it is common to think of it this way. There is also a feedback loop which sloffs off excess l-trip or any percursor taken in, past a point. Even mc Donalds food has lots of L-trip, so as long as you eat regulary you get the percursors to make neuro transmitters.
>
> I'm not saying don't supplement, it is a good idea
> to make sure you get everything you need to live, but don't expect these kind of supplements to have big AD effects. It just does not work that way.
>
> james
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------There is plenty of scientific evidence. Anecdotal evidence too. Suggesting a big AD effect can be expected from SAMe supplements. There may be a feedback limiting resistance, or a point of diminished returns. But that level--if there is one-- is much higher than the doses needed to treat depression. Feedback is irrelevant in a discussion of SAMe.
SAMe is not a precursor. Unlike precursors, it is not available in food. The body has to make it. It is a catalyst. Among hundreds of other things it encourages dendrite growth, it allows receptors to be more elastic, it tunes-up the entire infrustructure of the brain. It facilitates electrical activity. It lubricates. It activates. It steps up the energy level of just about every chemical reaction at a molecular level. It basically lends a helping hand to everything going on in the brain. Supplemented doses of SAMe can and do have an AD effect. Perhaps a depressed person doesn't have a deficiency of SAMe. Perhaps they do. But a raised level improves the performance of the brain in hundreds of ways. Depression relief is achievable way before a point of dimishing returns. It's too bad SAMe isn't found in McDonalds food, because it would be a whole lot cheaper. :-)
poster:tgregory
thread:12407
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991001/msgs/12425.html