Deborah Mitchell - The SAM-e Solution: The Essential Guide to the Revolutionary Antidepression Supplement

Copyright 1999 by Lynn Sonberg

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

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First eBook Edition: September 2000

This book is not intended to be a substitute for medical care and advice. You are advised to consult with your health care professional with regard to matters relating to your health, including matters which require diagnosis or medical attention. In particular, if you are taking or have been advised to take any medication, you should consult regularly with your physician. Please also note that SAM-e is not appropriate for persons suffering from bipolar depression.

The information provided in this book is based upon sources that the author believes to be reliable. Information regarding specific products and companies is current as of July 1999.

As a family physician and director of Rhinebeck Health Center, I have been treating depression and osteoarthritis for many years. I incorporate reliable complementary medical remedies into my practice whenever possible, so it has been with great interest that I have followed the research and development of SAM-e over the years, noting the promising results and safety reports my colleagues overseas have been documenting. But my interest was from afar, because SAM-e was not available in the United States. Some U.S. physicians and patients, however, were importing the supplement and were willing to accept the uncertainty of delivery for one reason: It worked for them. So by the time SAM-e hit the U.S. market, I was armed with what I believed to be sufficient clinical evidence and anecdotal reports to begin prescribing SAM-e to my patients.

Like so many of my colleagues, I know that conventional medicine does not always have the answers to patients problems or questions. We know that people are tired of taking medications that often cause side effects that are worse than the condition theyre treating. And we know that our patients are curious about and are trying alternative remedies. The arrival of SAM-e has opened a new, exciting door of opportunity, both for us as physicians and for the patients we treat: the chance to offer relief from the darkness of depression or from the pain and limitations of osteoarthritis from a natural product that is virtually without side effects.

I sat down with each patient who was a likely candidate for SAM-e and we discussed the idea. I explained what the clinical studies showed, how Europeans had been using SAM-e for decades, and that the possibility of side effects was very low. All of the patients I spoke with were enthused about using SAM-e, and so my own personal study began. The bulk of the new nutritional supplements that are introduced to the marketplace are probably somewhat helpful for a large percentage of people. Indeed, many people derive benefits from St.-Johns-wort, for example, for the treatment of depression. But I find that SAM-e works faster than St.-Johns-wort, faster than conventional antidepressants, is just as effective, and doesnt have the disadvantage of side effects. My patients with osteoarthritis are experiencing less pain and greater mobility and are confident that SAM-e is helping rebuild their damaged cartilage. I share their enthusiasm and hope, and so far I see no reason to believe SAM-e is not delivering what it has promised for treatment of depression and osteoarthritis.

The poster child patient for SAM-e in my practice is Sylvia, a woman I have been treating for depression, osteoarthritis, and liver problems. Our plan was to treat her with 1,200 mg daily of SAM-e for her osteoarthritis. After only three days, she came to me and said, with total amazement and joy, that her depression had lifted dramatically, something the Prozac and lithium she had been taking had been unable to do. Needless to say, she is continuing with SAM-e and is hopeful she will soon experience relief from her osteoarthritis symptoms.

In a sense our work here in the United States is just beginning. The conscientious efforts of our overseas colleagues need to be recognized and applauded but, most important, continued. SAM-e is prescribed in fourteen countries for one or more conditions. People in these countries have been getting relief from depression, osteoarthritis, liver disease, and even fibromyalgia. So this is where the challenge begins: the challenge to conventional health-care practitioners and consumers alike. Both need to react responsibly to the challenge. If physicians and patients ignore the glitzy rhetoric and instead listen to the researchers and read the studies, what they will find is a credible argument on the side of SAM-e for the treatment of depression, osteoarthritis, and liver disease, as well as some very exciting possibilities in other areas. Physicians have an opportunity to learn along with their patients. They also need to demand quality products from manufacturers and to be willing to evaluate the past and current studies with an open mind.

If you, as a consumer and as an individual with health problems, want to have some control over your health, then you need to educate yourself about SAM-e. This book helps you do that. It tells you what SAM-e is, how it works in the body, and, more important, it explains the studies that have led researchers and physicians to make the claims they do about SAM-e.

If you want to be told that SAM-e is a miracle cure, youve come to the wrong book. The SAM-e Solution explains the studies that have been done that support or suggest the use of SAM-e for treatment of depression, osteoarthritis, liver disorders, fibromyalgia, migraine, Alzheimers disease, Parkinsons disease, and several other conditions. But it also tells you that not all the studies have been positive and that on rare occasions there may be some mild, temporary side effects. The book also explains how to use SAM-e, either alone or to enhance the benefits of another remedy, whether it be conventional or alternative; what to look for when buying SAM-e to ensure you get a viable, potent product; and answers the questions that come to mind when considering a new supplement, including issues of safety, dosing, effectiveness, and other topics. Most of the supplements that come to market do not have staying power; I believe SAM-e will be an exception. If the study results continue to be positive and the adverse effects remain negligible, SAM-e holds great promise for people with depression, osteoarthritis, liver disease, and perhaps even several more serious health problems. The SAM-e Solution introduces you to the future and challenges you to be part of it.

STEVEN J. BOCK, M.D.

Do you have a chronic case of the blues?

Are you one of approximately 17 million Americans who have been diagnosed with clinical depression?

Is fibromyalgia preventing you from doing all the things you want to do?

Do you wake up each day stiff and in pain from osteoarthritis, knowing that the only relief you get every day is from drugs that are ultimately causing you more harm than good?

Are you and your liver battling the destructive power of cirrhosis or hepatitis?

Are you or someone you love experiencing short-term memory loss, loss of concentration, or other mental lapses usually associated with aging?