Posted by JohnL on February 21, 2000, at 6:10:13
In reply to Following up on Cam W. JohnL's SAMe thoughts..., posted by DJ on February 20, 2000, at 22:15:14
Placebo effect or not makes no difference to me. All that matters is that the patient gets well, and stays well. If SAMe does that for some people (it does) then I cheer the results.
But as I've believed over and over, it all depends on the underlying genetic/biological problem and how well any particular drug influences that problem. There are responders and nonresponders to every drug out there. Response depends on the drug's influence on the underlying problem, which could be one of many, or a blend of several.
I could care less what marketing or advertising has to say about SAMe. I ignore the hype. I looked at the controlled scientific studies for guidance. As Cam mentioned, they can be full of errors, but I much prefer basing drug choices on clinical studies than marketing hype or trendy fashions. There's never any guarantee, but at least I try to stack the odds in my favor. It was the result of reading all the controlled studies on SAMe, which date back to the early 1980's (SAMe is by no means a new discovery). Millions of people have been using it succesfully in Europe for decades. I'm sure millions of others there found it useless.
From my own personal experience from numerous short trials (lost count), I know for a fact, not hype, that SAMe does this for me: Provides immediate boost of energy, relieves a depressive slump in 2 days, helps the prescrip work better, boosts sex drive, lowers my chronic hip pain, gives me stomach gas, lowers my appetite, empties my wallet. I can expect all of these things any and every time I try SAMe at 800mg a day. But that's just me. That doesn't imply it will do the same with everyone.
The greatest criticism of hype and media that I have is that they imply there is some miracle one-shoe-fits-all. As we all know from broken-hearted trials of different things, there is no one shoe that fits all. It all depends on the underlying problem. For some people, SAMe will help correct whatever that problem is. For others it won't. For yet others it will have a placebo effect, just like any prescrip does. You and I have both tried SAMe. From our personal trials we can reasonably conclude that you are a nonresponder and I am a partial responder. We may never know why. But it highlights the fact that only through personal trials can we discover what works and what doesn't. And from those results we can gather clues as to what the underlying chemical imbalance is so that we can more accurately guide future treatments.
poster:JohnL
thread:22812
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000220/msgs/22884.html