What is the difference between Glycine and Glycine Forte

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Stress is a familiar companion of modern man. Anxiety, worries, increased stress – all this inevitably affects health and reduces the quality of life. To combat stress, many drugs have been developed, including vitamins for the brain. They normalize blood flow in the central nervous system, enhance tissue nutrition, improve concentration and memory, increase efficiency – and thus make a person’s life more pleasant and comfortable.

The heroes of our article – Glycine and Glycine Forte – drugs to improve brain activity. Despite the similar name, they differ in composition and dosage, but have a common scope. Let’s talk about the difference between these tools.

Another drug with a similar name is presented on the pharmaceutical market – Glycine Forte Evalar. In addition to glycine (300 mg), it contains vitamins B₁, AT₆, AT₁₂. B group vitamins enhance the action of glycine and have a positive effect on the functioning of the nervous system. In this article, we will not talk about it and compare two other drugs – Glycine and Glycine Forte.

How vitamins work for the brain

The composition of the preparations Glycine and Glycine Forte is the same, therefore, the principle of action does not differ.

Glycine is an amino acid that is part of the most important proteins and biologically active compounds. Glycine receptors are found in brain tissues. By binding to receptors, glycine inhibits neuronal activity and prevents the release of certain excitatory amino acids, such as glutamic acid. At the same time, GABA synthesis is increased. So glycine affects the metabolic processes occurring in the central nervous system:

1. reduces psycho-emotional stress;

2. increases the adaptive capacity of the body;

3. reduces the level of anxiety, aggressiveness and conflict;

4. improves mood;

5. normalizes sleep and in particular – facilitates falling asleep;

6. stimulates mental activity of the brain and increases efficiency;

7. improves attention and memory.

Glycine in the presented preparations also improves the blood supply to the brain, which is used in the treatment of ischemic stroke and traumatic brain injury.

Glycine normalizes the work of the autonomic nervous system – and this fact allows the use of the drug in the treatment of menopausal disorders and some other disorders.

Glycine reduces the toxic effect of alcohol and other similar substances, which is used in the complex treatment of various kinds of addictions.

Glycine easily penetrates into body tissues, including the brain. The drug does not accumulate, so its regular intake is required.

Показания

The reason for prescribing the drug Glycine or the dietary supplement Glycine Forte may be the following conditions:

1. decreased mental performance – for example, against the background of stress or increased stress;

2. stressful situations with pronounced emotional stress – for example, during conflicts, during exams, etc .;

3. various behavioral disorders in children and adolescents;

4. functional and organic diseases of the nervous system with characteristic symptoms: decreased performance, impaired attention and memory, emotional instability and excessive excitability;

5. ischemic stroke;

6. sleep disorders;

7. neuroses;

8. vascular dystonia;

9. consequences of traumatic brain injury;

10. perinatal encephalopathy;

11. consequences of chronic alcoholism.

Glycine can be used as the only remedy or in complex therapy along with other drugs and non-drug methods.

Glycine and Glycine Forte differ in dosage. Glycine is usually prescribed to children and adolescents, as well as adults with mild forms of CNS damage. The use of Glycine Forte is justified in cases where a large dosage of the drug is required.

Is there any benefit? Evaluation of the effectiveness of drugs

Glycine is one of the most famous, cheap and affordable drugs used to correct brain activity. Both students who pass the session and office workers who are loaded with documents and are terrified of the deadline are aware of it. But despite such popularity, glycine remains a rather controversial remedy, because its effectiveness has not yet been proven.

For a drug to be effective, it must be clinically tested. According to international standards, these studies must be double-blind, when the human factor and the possibility of self-hypnosis are excluded. Studies must capture a sufficiently large number of patients and be completed. The results of such tests are entered into a medical knowledge base, such as the Cochrane Library or the PubMed portal.

В Cochrane Library there are five articles on glycine, but not all of them are of interest to us. In one of Research studied the possibility of using glycine in schizophrenia. The result is not encouraging – the authors did not notice a significant improvement in the condition during therapy. Many patients were completely insensitive to glycine.

According to many scientists, glycine in the form of tablets, in principle, cannot affect the central nervous system in any way. Tatyana Frolova, Senior Researcher, Federal Research Center “Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, declares: “Glycine is an amino acid that is really involved in the transmission of impulses between nerve cells. The trouble is that it will never enter the central nervous system from the gastrointestinal tract.”

The thing is that between the blood and the brain is the blood-brain barrier. It protects the brain from the penetration of bacteria, viruses and toxic substances – but glycine also cannot pass it. It turns out that getting into the digestive tract, glycine simply comes out naturally, without affecting the performance of the brain.

The opinion of the researcher is confirmed by the conducted clinical trials, in which glycine did not perform well. And even increasing the dosage in Glycine Forte does not help – the amino acid still does not pass the blood-brain barrier and does not have the desired effect. Glycine has not been shown to be effective in ischemic stroke, alcohol addiction in adults impaired memory and attention in children.

In foreign literature, preparations based on glycine are positioned as dietary supplements and are recognized as agents with unproven effectiveness. A completely different attitude to glycine in Russian-speaking sources. According to the researchers, glycine regulates metabolism, improves brain activity, is not addictive and is well tolerated. However, such statements, based only on the analysis of the mechanism of action of glycine, and not on real clinical trials, are not enough to recommend the drug for the treatment of serious diseases.

Application Scheme

Preparations Glycine and Glycine forte should be taken under the tongue or on the cheek. The tablet should be sucked until completely dissolved. It is not necessary to drink water.

The dosage and duration of taking the drug are determined by the doctor, taking into account the age of the patient and the severity of the disease. The minimum single dose of the drug for adults is 100 mg, the frequency of administration is 2-3 times a day.

Adverse reactions and contraindications

Glycine and Glycine Forte are well tolerated. Significant side effects are not stated in the instructions for the drugs. There may be allergic reactions.

There is only one contraindication for drugs – individual intolerance.

With arterial hypotension, the drug is prescribed with caution. It is recommended to measure blood pressure daily, if it drops sharply, stop taking glycine.

Conclusions

To sum up:

1. Glycine and Glycine Forte are preparations based on glycine. This amino acid activates brain activity, improves memory and attention, increases efficiency. It is used for functional and organic lesions of the nervous system, with high mental stress, against the background of stress.

2. The effectiveness of glycine in the composition of drugs has not been proven. There is no reliable evidence that it really has a beneficial effect on the state of the nervous system.

3. Glycine and Glycine forte contain the same active ingredient and differ only in dosage.

Both drugs are well tolerated and have virtually no contraindications.

Attention! This material is subjective, is not an advertisement and does not serve as a guide to the purchase. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.