SAMe – The natural Anti-depressant without significant side-effects

SAMe (pronounced “sammy”) is an energy enhancing, anti-depressant. The effect of SAMe is to enhance the impact of mood boosting neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. However, unlike many other anti-depressants, SAMe manages to do this without any of the potentially adverse side effects making it a highly sought after anti-depressant. Indeed, it’s effectiveness as an anti-depressant and treatment for arthritis sufferers (both of which we will explore in more detail later) has been the subject of numerous trials throughout Europe involving thousands of patients. These trials have demonstrated that SAMe performs just as well as the more traditional treatments but with the added advantage of the lack of adverse side effects even at high doses.

So what exactly is SAMe?

SAMe (or to give it its full chemical name S-adenosylmethionine) is a naturally occurring molecule that is produced constantly by all living cells - including those that make up the human body. It was discovered back in the 1950’s although the pharmaceutical version of SAMe was not developed until the 1970’s. SAMe is sold under the brand name Samyr with the tablets being enteric coated to stop their SAMe content from being destroyed by the stomach and digested by the small intestine instead.

SAMe belongs to a group of chemicals that act as methyl donors. It therefore plays a crucial role in a process known as methylation. Even though there are other chemicals that act as methyl donors, SAMe is the most active without which there would be no methylation as we know it. And without methylation there would be no life as we know it such is the importance of this fundamental, essential, energizing process.

What is methylation?

Methylation is essentially a transaction between molecules whereby one molecule donates what is known as a methyl group (a four atom appendage) to a neighbouring molecule. By doing this both the donor and the recipient change and become other chemical compounds.

This process of donating and changing can have far reaching consequences that affect functions throughout the body including that of the brain. In particular, methylation preserves the fatty membranes that insulate our cells, regulates gene expression and helps regulate various hormones and neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that act as the brain’s messenger service, crossing the small gaps (synapses) that exist between cells when one brain cell (neuron) has to communicate with another.

Although we are not aware of it, methylation occurs billions of times a second throughout our bodies. The whole process is one of change and recycling. SAMe is made by our bodies from the amino acid methionine which is found in protein rich food. Once the SAMe molecule has donated its methyl group, it becomes homocysteine which can be extremely toxic if levels of it are allowed to build up within cells. High homocysteine levels can cause a number of health problems, and, in particular, are a major risk factor for heart attacks and strokes. Research has also indicated that high homocysteine levels are implicated in depression. Also, if homocysteine levels are too high during pregnancy, the baby is at an increased risk of suffering from spina bifida and other birth defects.

To prevent such a dangerous rise in the amount of homocysteine, our bodies use a number of B vitamins (B6, B12 and folic acid) to convert the homocysteine into glutathione (a useful antioxidant) or re-methylate it back into methionine. Therefore, if we are low in B vitamins, homocysteine levels can quickly rise and the production of adequate levels of SAMe can be stalled.

A correlation between SAMe and melatonin exists – when melatonin levels are high, SAMe levels are low and vice versa. Melatonin is described as the night time sleep hormone with levels being much higher during the night than during the day. SAMe works in the reverse with much higher levels during the day than the night and is often described as being responsible for day time alertness.

Producing a pharmaceutical version of SAMe initially proved to be extremely difficult and, therefore, expensive preventing its wider use. However, today manufacturing improvements have overcome many of these difficulties allowing this amazing treatment to become widely available.

SAMe and the treatment of Depression

Depression is a huge problem. Over recent years there has been a growing awareness of the prevalence of the illness. Take the situation in the US where, according to the World Health Organization, depression is the leading cause of disability with 5% of the population suffering from the illness. In the year 2000, it was estimated that depression cost the US economy somewhere in the region of $83 billion just in terms of lowered productivity and workplace absenteeism…and this is without the cost of treatment.

Research has shown that when a person is depressed, the production of SAMe in their brain is impaired. Supplementation with SAMe can help to rectify this situation. SAMe appears to lift the levels and enhance the impact of mood boosting neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin either by regulating the breakdown of these neurotransmitters or by increasing the speed of production of receptor molecules that they need to bind themselves to.

SAMe may also help to keep the receptor molecules sufficiently responsive to the appropriate chemical signals from the neurotransmitters. This is because the receptor molecules float about in the outer membranes of the neurons, but, if these membranes become degraded and too thick, the receptor molecules lose their ability to move and respond adequately. Unfortunately, age, amongst other things, causes degradation in cell membranes to occur. However, SAMe helps to keep cell membranes fluid by methylating fats called phospholipids. This allows receptor molecules to keep mobile thereby retaining their ability to respond when required.

As mentioned above, the lack of side effects also gives SAMe a huge advantage over other more toxic anti-depressants. The older types of anti-depressants such as MAO inhibitors and tricyclics can be deadly in overdose or when combined with other medications. The newer anti-depressants such as Prozac and Zoloft, may be less dangerous but they can still cause a whole raft of potentially debilitating side effects ranging from upset stomachs and headaches through to insomnia, sexual dysfunction and heightened feelings of agitation. As with other anti-depressants, SAMe may still trigger manic episodes in people who suffer from bipolar disorder but other than that the most serious side effect you will experience is a mild stomach upset and that is only if you are unfortunate enough to experience any side effects at all.

And not only is SAMe as effective and less toxic in treating depression as the more “traditional” anti-depressants, its effects are far more rapid in their onset. In general, anti-depressants are no “quick fix” and it usually takes 3-4 weeks of medication before any effects from treatment become apparent. SAMe, on the other hand, with its rapid onset, means that you may be seeing in the benefits in just a few days.

It’s clear that SAMe really is a truly remarkable anti-depressant.

SAMe and the treatment of Arthritis

Like depression, arthritis is a major health problem. Again take the situation in the US, where an estimated 21% of the adult population have some form of the disease. Many sufferers use non-steriodal, anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin and ibuprofen. The problem is that taking NSAIDs at a dose high enough to ease arthritic pain can result in horrendous gastric complications. Every year over a 100,000 Americans are hospitalized for NSAID- induced ulcers and 16,500 Americans die. And if the gastric side effects don’t get you, then it is likely that long term use of NSAIDs may result in worsening joint problems. Osteoarthritis is the clinical name given to the thinning and ultimate wearing out of cartilage. Unfortunately, NSAIDs can slow the production of collagen and proteoglycans, the very tissues that make cartilage.

SAMe, on the other hand, is a safe alternative to NSAIDs treatment. Over 20,000 sufferers have taken part in a number of clinical trials which have all reached the same conclusion – SAMe is just as effective as the more traditional pain and inflammation treatments but, unlike NSAIDs, it displays none of the damaging, and potentially fatal, gastric side effects. What’s more it is now believed that SAMe may even help to restore cartilage rather than hastening its breakdown. This is because the same chemical reactions that produce glutathione also produce molecules known as sulphate groups which are involved in the production of proteoglycans which are used in making cartilage. Glutathione is produced by the actions of B vitamins on homocysteine – and SAMe becomes homocysteine after it has donated its methyl group.

Liver problems

The good news with SAMe doesn’t just end with the treatment of depression and arthritis – as the 3rd most concentrated chemical in the liver, SAMe can help to normalize liver function in patients suffering from cirrhosis, hepatitis and cholestasis. This can also have a direct effect on general health and well being as detoxification is improved.

Side effects

As mentioned above one of the real benefits of SAMe treatment is that there hardly any side effects. The worst that you may experience is a mild stomach upset.

Dosage
Dosage is dependent upon the condition being treated. The following guidelines are recommended:-