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Camilla, I have not heard of SAM-e. Dr. Brown certainly has good credentials (but remember there is a member of the Harvard psychiatric faculty who believes in alien abduction :-( so because a faculty member says something is true doesn't mean thst it is. Did he site any double blind studies? I will check it out but in the absence of double blind studies I would be quite cautious. Charlie Camilla Flintermann wrote: > Friends-- a neighbor gave me an article from a magazine called "American > Health" (july-August '99) ca;;ed "Nature's Newest Anti-depressant", with > emphasis on depression, but also claiming help for arthritis, fybromyalgia, > and PD. It is from an interview with a psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Brown, > Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia U. College of > Physicians & Surgeons--sounds pretty reputable. SAM-e is the short name > for S-adenosylmethionine, "a popular depression treatment in Europe, now on > the shelves of your local drugstores". Dr. Brown uses it selectively with > his patients and says it can be added to or substotuted for SSRI type > antidepressants like Prozac, with fewer side effects, especially in mild > depression, cautioning not to use it in bipolar type. > SAM-e is said to be " a chemical in the body that's central to at least 35 > essential metabolic reactions. It eases depression by RAISING THE BRAIN'S > LEVEL OF SEROTONINS AND DOPAMINE...AND STABILIZING THE NOREPINEPHRINE > TRANSMITTER SYSTEM so it can send chemical messages > effectively." (emphasis mine ) > > Does this sound reasonable/correct to the experts onlist? Has anyone > (hello, over in Europe?) used or heard of this ? I wonder if it is used, > as St. John's Wort is, for relieving depression by some PWPs?I told my > neighbor, who was just trying to be helpful, that I'd check it out---on the > web I did an ALtaVista search and came up with LOTS of items, mostly re: > depression, arthritis, and where to buy it at lowest price--nothing re: PD. > (It is not cheap, of course!) Comments are welcome. > > Camilla Flintermann, CG for Peter 81/70/55 > Oxford, Ohio > http://www.newcountry.nu/pd/members/camilla/one.htm > <[log in to unmask]> > > "Ask me about the CARE list for > Caregivers of Parkinsonians ! " -- ****************************************************************************************** Charles T. Meyer, M.D. Middleton (Madison), Wisconsin [log in to unmask] ******************************************************************************************