St. John's wort: Few side effects

From http://cms.herbalgram.org/herbalmedicine/StJohn27swort.html:

"Studies that compare treatment with SJW to treatment with a synthetic antidepressant have not lasted longer than six weeks and have been compared using about one-half the usual dose of the antidepressant (75 mg imipramine instead of 150 mg). In addition, they have not been conducted with severely depressed patients. Yet SJW has been shown to be safe, with very few side effects, compared with synthetic antidepressants: out of 3,250 patients, only allergic reactions (0.5%), gastrointestinal upset (0.6%), and fatigue (0.4%) were observed (De Smet and Nolen, 1996). Evidence of the antidepressant activity of SJW extracts can be found in reviews by Bombardelli and Morazzoni (1995), Linde et al. (1996), and Upton (1997). No significant modern human studies investigating SJW's other therapeutic uses have been found (e.g., orally for dyspeptic complaints and topically for burns, lesions, wounds, and myalgia)."