What Is Phosphatidylserine?
Phosphatidylserine (PS) is one of the naturally-occurringmolecules present all through the body. Although the human body can producethis substance at its own, the majority of this nutrient can be attainedthrough the diet. However, because the diet which we follow today is unhealthyand lacks the essential nutrients, Phosphatidylserine is used in certaindietary supplements, and sometimes claimed to be useful for the below-mentioneduses:
- Depression
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Alzheimer's disease
- Age-related dementia or cognitive decline
Phosphatidylserine (PS) is an essential component in all ourcells; specifically, it is a major component of the cell membrane. The cellmembrane is a kind of "skin" that surrounds living cells. Besideskeeping cells intact, this membrane performs vital functions such as movingnutrients into cells and pumping waste products out of them. PS plays animportant role in many of these functions.
It is not yet known how exactly Phosphatidylserinesupplementation does work to treat Alzheimer's disease or for some otheruses, although it is generally believed that its levels may reduce due to thegrowing age and with certain other medical complications like Alzheimer's. Soto maintain those levels it is prescribed as a supplement with treatment.
It is widely used for this purpose in Italy, Scandinavia,and other parts of Europe. PS has also been marketed as a "brainbooster" for people of all ages, said to sharpen memory and increasethinking ability.
Phosphatidylserine(PS), in studies of severe mental decline, appears to have been equallyeffective whether the cause was Alzheimer's disease or something entirelyunrelated, such as multiple small strokes. This certainly suggests that PS mayhave a positive impact on the brain that is not specific to any one condition.From this observation, it is not a great leap to suspect that it might beuseful for much less severe problems with memory and mental function, such asthose that seem to occur in nearly all of us who are older than 40. Indeed, onedouble-blind study did find that animal-source phosphatidylserine could improvemental function in individuals with relatively mild age-related memory loss.
Overall, theevidence for animal-source PS in dementia is fairly strong. Double-blindstudies involving a total of more than 1,000 people suggest thatphosphatidylserine is an effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease and otherforms of dementia. The largest of these studies followed 494 elderly subjectsin northeastern Italy over a course of 6 months. All suffered from moderate tosevere mental decline, as measured by standard tests. Treatment consisted ofeither 300 mg daily of PS or placebo. The group that took PS did significantlybetter in both behavior and mental function than the placebo group. Symptoms ofdepression also improved. These results agree with those of numerous othersmaller double-blind studies involving a total of more than 500 people withAlzheimer's and other types of age-related dementia.
And, finally, the promising study results were published in the November2010 issue of the "Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition."Elderly study participants, all with mild cognitive impairment, took 100 or 300mg of phosphatidylserine per day for six months. Memory scores increased in allgroups, and those with the lowest starting scores improved the most.Improvements occurred mostly in delayed verbal recall, an aspect of memoryassociated with early stages of dementia. There were no adverse effects, andthe researchers concluded that phosphatidylserine is a safe and helpfulsupplement for improving memory for some people.
This line ofinvestigation substantially slowed down in the 1990s over concerns about madcow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy), a fatal brain disorder believedto be caused by consuming foods or other products from affected cattle.Supplements containing phosphatidylserine are now derived from soy extracts. Earlystudies, though promising, were based on cow-derived supplements. There arereasons to expect that plant-source PS should function very similarly to PSmade from cows' brains, and some animal studies suggest that it is indeedeffective. However, in preliminary trials, soy-based PS and cabbage-based PSfailed to prove beneficial and did not show the same level of effectiveness.
Phosphatidylserine is generally regarded as safe when usedat recommended dosages. Side effects are rare, and when they do occur theyusually consist of nothing much worse than mild gastrointestinal distress. However,the maximum safe dosages for young children, pregnant or nursing women, orthose with severe liver or kidney disease have not been established.
The known potential side effects are:
- Upset stomach
- Gas
- Insomnia.
Even though Phosphatidylserine is one of the naturalsupplements, it may potentially interact with some of the medications and othernatural supplements. For example, PS is sometimes is taken with ginkgo becausethey both appear to enhance mental function. However, some caution might be inorder: Ginkgo is a "blood thinner," and PS might be one as well. PSis known to enhance the effect of heparin, a very strong prescription bloodthinner. It is possible that combined use of PS and any drug or supplement thatthins the blood could interfere with normal blood clotting enough to causeproblems.
Some medicines which may result in Phosphatidylserine druginteractions are:
- Anticholinergic medicines, including, but not limited to:
- o Atropine
- o Belladonna (B&O Supprettes, Donnatal, Bellamine S)
- o Clidinium (Librax)
- o Benztropine (Cogentin)
- o Darifenacin (Enablex)
- o Clozapine (Clozaril)
- o Dicyclomine (Bentyl)
- o Diphenhydramine (Benadryl, Tylenol PM)
- o Haloperidol (Haldol)
- o Glycopyrrolate (Robinul)
- o Hyoscyamine (Levsin)
- o Homatropine (Hycodan)
- o Tolterodine (Detrol)
- o Ipratropium (Atrovent)
- o Tiotropium (Spiriva)
- o Scopolamine (Transderm Scop)
- Drugs which have cholinergic effects (including acetylcholinesterase inhibitors), like
- o Donepezil (Aricept)
- o Ambenonium (Mytelase)
- o Galantamine (Razadyne)
- o Edrophonium (Enlon, Reversol)
- o Bethanechol (Urecholine)
- o Methacholine (Provocholine)
- o Guanidine
- o Succinylcholine (Anectine, Quelicin)
- o Rivastigmine (Exelon)
This is not a complete list and some other drugs may alsointeract with Phosphatidylserine. Thus, inform your doctor about all sorts ofprescribed or non-prescribed medicines and health supplements you take.
Some people may be more likely than others to experienceproblems due to phosphatidylserine. Therefore, you should talk with yourhealthcare provider before taking the supplements if you have:
- Any serious or chronic health condition
- Liver disease, such as liver failure, cirrhosis, or hepatitis
- Kidney disease, such as kidney failure (renal failure)
- Any allergies, including allergies to medications, foods, dyes, or preservatives.
Also, let your healthcare provider know if you are:
- Pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant
- Breastfeeding
Make sure to tell your healthcare provider about all othermedicines you are taking, including prescription and non-prescriptionmedicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.
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