Natural Standard Featured CE/CME: 5-HTP

Natural Standard's featured CE/CME for the month of August is 5-HTP: Safety & Effectiveness.

5-HTP is the precursor of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Commercially available 5-HTP is obtained from the seeds of the plant Griffonia simplicifolia. 5-HTP has been suggested as a treatment for many conditions. Some research supports the use of 5-HTP in treating cerebellar ataxia, headache, depression, psychiatric disorders, and fibromyalgia, and as an appetite suppressant or weight loss agent.

Natural Standard offers CE/CME modules for multidisciplinary healthcare professionals. Students and other users may take courses for training purposes without generating credit certificates. Continuing Education requirements differ based on discipline, license and location. If you are unsure of your specific needs, please contact your local agency.

Comments

[Marina]

Carla, my assumption is that the cause might be that serotonin reuptake inhibitors increase the concentration of endogenous serotonin. The 5-HTP is an exogenous precursor to serotonin. So perhaps it is difficult for the body to convert to serotonin. Or maybe it's difficult to get enough of it in correct concentration to be useful. Or maybe it something simple like the studied dosages were sub-therapeutic.

[AS]

Good timing for this CE topic. 5-HT has been a hot topic recently with the new obesity drugs gaining approval from the FDA. This blog also lists a lot of other interesting potential uses. I never really knew 5-HT was an available supplement until my rotation here at Natural Standard and I will be clicking over to the monograph to read more about the evidence behind its use in different conditions. With so many unfamiliar herbs and supplements it is so great to have a reliable unbiased source of information.

[AR]

Has anybody ever heard of or seen the product called Dream Water? I've seen it sold at airport gift shops. In addition to 5-HTP, it also has GABA and melatonin in it. I think this will be a very interesting CE! 5-HTP has been in research since the 50's, so it will be interesting to get a great update and see how far it has come!

[LO]

5-HTP is being evaluated for treatment in quite a few different disease states! It could be especially beneficial for treating obesity, which could greatly impact our patients and society in general. I'm glad that Natural Standard is offering a CE/CME credit for it so that practitioners can become more knowledgable about it and are able to recommend 5-HTP whenever appropriate!

[anonymous]

This would make a very interesting topic for a CE. I will probably look into it later this week! I have heard a lot about 5-HTP lately, and more often than not it in reference to its effects on weight loss. This little blurb gave some insight as to what else it has been used for. I was very interested and went to the monograph to read more about it, which was very informative.

[Carla]

Natural Standard gives 5-HTP a grade of C for use in depression. There are a lot of studies discussed in the professional monograph but they have found conflicting evidence. This is surprising since serotonin is involved in the mechanism of so many antidepressants; I wonder what the crucial difference is between 5-HTP and a serotonin reuptake inhibitor.

[ronak]

Great timing for this blog! Students at Natural Standards are giving a presentation on weight loss and included 5-HTP as one of their complementary and alternative treatments for weight loss. I look forward to hearing how it works, if it is actually effective, and if pertinent adverse effects or interactions exist, since prescription drugs for weight loss have a plethora of side effects and interactions.

[Nicole]

I've been hearing so much about the use of serotonin and weight loss lately, especially with the approval of Locaserin that acts on the 5HT2C receptor, which is one of the (many) binding sites for serotonin. I don't believe there has been much research on 5HTP and weight loss recently, but I know that back in the 90s there was a contamination issue that had resulted in some serious adverse effects, including EMS, but it would be interesting to see more recent studies performed with greater quality supplements of 5-HTP.