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SAM-e Clinical Studies |
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- Depression: According to one meta-analysis of placebo-controlled, double-blind studies on the comparison of the anti-depressants desipramine and chlorimipramine to SAMe, 92% of patients responded to SAMe, compared to 85% for the tricyclics.
- Depression: A study done at the University of California at Irvine, as reported at a 1987 symposium sponsored by the University of Alabama and the University of Trieste (Italy), on 18 patients hospitalized for depression. In this study, intravenous SAMe was compared to oral imipramine (Tofranil). The researchers found that 67% of the SAMe patients had 50% or greater improvement by the 14th day of the study, compared to only 22% of the patients given imipramine.
- Depression: DeVanna and Rigamonti confirmed these results in a placebo controlled, double-blind study using oral SAMe. In this study, patients with major depression were given 1,600 mg of SAMe per day. The researchers found that by day 10, SAMe had decreased depression 27% versus imipramine's 18% on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. On day 20, the anti-depressant effect of SAMe and imipramine were similar. On day 42, imipramine surpassed SAMe. More patients dropped out of the study due to side effects from imipramine than SAMe.
- Melatonin and serotonin production: One animal studies on SAMe and melatonin was published in the Journal of Neurochemistry in 1995. The so-called "nyctohemeral" rhythm (pertaining to both day and night) was documented almost minute-by-minute. Both melatonin and SAMe are controlled by an internal "clock" that knows lightness from darkness. In the evening, about 30 minutes before sunset, levels of SAMe shoot up to their highest level. They stay there for about an hour, and then suddenly drop approximately at the same time that melatonin production begins. Melatonin increases for four hours, while SAMe drops. Five hours into the night, melatonin is at its highest levels, and SAMe is at its lowest. Melatonin stays elevated until three hours before sunrise, when it abruptly falls. Meanwhile, SAMe builds up. Five hours into the day (around 11:00 A.M.), SAMe reaches its peak level again, then begins a gradual descent until evening. Serotonin levels follow roughly the same pattern (higher during the day and lower at night). Serotonin synthesized during the day is used at night to make melatonin. SAMe donates a methyl group molecule to the enzyme that converts the acetylated form of serotonin to melatonin.
- Osteoarthritis: In a double-blind, multicenter study of 734 patients, including 582 with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee, responses to 1,200mg daily of SAM were compared with those of placebo and naproxen (750mg daily).Results showed SAM to be as effective and to have fewer side effects than the naproxen.
- Osteoarthritis: In another randomized, double-blind study, 36 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, and/or spine received 1,200mg daily of SAM or 1,200mg daily of ibuprofen for 4 weeks. Similar improvements with both treatment groups were reported in areas such as morning stiffness, pain at rest, pain on motion, crepitus (crackly feeling in the joint), swelling, and limitations of movement in the affected joints. Both treatments were well tolerated. No patients withdrew.
- Osteoarthritis: In 1987, the American Journal of Medicine published a series of articles entitled "Osteoarthritis: The Clinical Picture, Pathogenesis, and Management with studies on a New Therapeutic Agent, S-Adenosylmethionine". These articles discussed studies using SAMe in treatment for osteoarthritis. The company that manufactures SAMe provided it for the studies, which were spread out among numerous physicians and clinics (in one case, 33 different medical centers). The studies confirmed that SAMe works as well as the most popular treatments on the market.
- Osteoarthritis: Studies had been done in Italy showing the benefits of SAMe. One of the studies involved more than 20,000 patients. This large-scale trial lasted two months. Participants were not allowed to take any pain medication or other arthritis treatment during the study. Doctors found that patients taking SAMe improved steadily from the beginning. At the end of the study, about 80% of the people who took SAMe reported improvement. Seventy percent of the people with the most severe knee pain improved significantly. Side effects were minimal, and only 2.3% of the group stopped taking it because it didn't work. The most severe side effect reported was gastrointestinal upset.
- Alzheimer's disease: Astudy in the Journal of Neurochemistry reported that Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients have severely decreased levels of SAMe in their brains. It was previously assumed from studies on blood cells that AD patients had too much SAMe. More studies are being planned on the connection between SAMe and Alzheimer's diesase.
- Coronary artery disease: A study from Switzerland, published in Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, links coronary artery disease to SAMe. This study measured levels of SAMe, cholesterol and other factors in 70 patients, aged 28-79, who were admitted to the hospital for angioplasty. Because of studies revealing high levels of homocysteine in heart patients, the researchers in this study wanted to see if SAMe could be playing a role in heart disease. Homocysteine can be neutralized by a process that involves SAMe, which has led researchers at Tufts University to wonder if a disruption SAMe production could be resulting in homocysteine accumulation. There was clear correlation between high homocysteine, low SAMe and heart disease. To make sure that heart disease causes the high levels of homocysteine, rather than the other way around, the researchers measured homocysteine levels again after a year. They concluded that "The finding of similar homocysteine values in patients after an interval of 1 year supports the idea that this parameter plays a role in the disease process and is not just altered by the disease itself." A study in JAMA in 1992 supports this view.
- Liver Disease: A study in Hepatology showed the beneficial effects of SAMe on liver disease. Fetal rat liver cells were exposed to ethanol. Pretreatment with SAMe maintained cell replication, decreased free radicals and prevented ATP and glutathione depletion. (Vitamin E gave better protection against free radicals, but did not maintain cell replication, ATP or glutathione).
- Acetaminophen toxicity: In a mouse study, deaths from high doses of acetaminophen were completely abolished if SAMe was given within one hour. If given within five hours, the number of deaths was significantly reduced.
- Free radical damage/alcohol damage: Rats treated with tetrachloride develop massive free radical damage very similar to what occurs with alcohol. If the same rats are given SAMe, damaging collagen deposits can be significantly reduced.
- Glutathione levels/alcohol damage: Spanish researchers reported in Toxicology in 1991 that supplemental SAMe maintained glutathione levels if added at the same time as alcohol (which drastically depletes glutathione).
- Liver Disease: In a study in which 45 patients with alcoholic liver disease were treated with intravenous SAMe for 15 days, liver function improved significantly.
- Liver Disease: In a rodent study in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, SAMe completely prevented fatty liver when given at the same time as alcohol.
- Liver Disease: In a study involving 37 people with fatty liver, hepatitis and cirrhosis, patients were given 150 mg of SAMe (IV form) which completely obliterated the fat in three patients and substantially reduced it in all others within 15 days. Groups in Italy and a group in Spain confirmed these results.
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