Supplement may help people with depression   

A small study suggests that a nutritional supplement sold over-the-counter may help some people with depression who haven't improved with any other medication.

Researchers found that adding the supplement, called S-Adenosyl Methionine, or SAMe, to a patients' antidepressant treatment helped more people with major depression improve their symptoms than those that took an inactive placebo on top of their normal medication. 

Fewer side-effects were also reported in those who took SAMe versus the medications.

Though the study is not definitive, researchers are hopeful as statistics indicate nearly 5-10% of people may encounter a severe episode of depression with half never improving.

The problem with current antipsychotic medicines is that they pose serious and sometimes lethal effects. 

And it is a problem.

In the current study, SAMe was given to 39 people who had major depressive disorder that hadn't gotten better on antidepressant therapy. These people took 1600 milligrams of SAMe each day in addition to the antidepressant treatment they were on before the study started. Thirty-four similar patients took a placebo pill on top of their antidepressants. Neither group knew which treatment they had. 

About a quarter of patients in the study dropped out because they weren't getting better or didn't feel well on SAMe or the placebo. But SAMe had no serious side effects, and a similar number of patients stopped the study because they didn't like SAMe and because they didn't like the placebo. 

Among the 31 patients taking SAMe and the 24 taking placebo that completed the full six-week study, both depression tests showed that more patients on SAMe than on placebo responded to treatment and got better. 

Previous studies have shown that SAMe can influence chemicals in the brain and might work as an antidepressant on its own or interact with traditional antidepressants, but the way it works isn't completely clear. 

SAMe is found naturally in the human body and is sold as a supplement by vitamin stores, where it can be more expensive than many current antidepressants. However, taking SAMe won’t kill you or pose grave risks to your well-                                          being.                                                                                                                                                                                    

Researchers not that depression is a complicated condition so it is important that people don't rush out and stop taking whatever they're taking in order to use a new treatment.