The reality is that people will diagnose and treat themselves, Gaster acknowledges. One real-world factor in St. John's wort's favor is price. SAMe is an abbreviation for S-adenosylmethionine, a molecule found in biochemical pathways throughout the body. Scientists in Italy have shown that depressive patients who receive intravenous SAMe show improvement. Given intravenously, the chemical goes directly into the bloodstream.
People taking SAMe in the United States, however, take it in pill form.
SAMe pills are not absorbed as effectively as injections, because they first have to pass through the digestive system. In fact, Gaster says, the body does not absorb more than 99 percent of the SAMe that people pop in their mouths. It is expelled by the body, ending up in the toilet bowl instead. Less than 1 percent is absorbed in the body. There is no reliable evidence to show that taking SAMe orally will benefit people, he says.