Research into the use of St John's Wort to treat depression
St John's Wort and depression
St John's Wort was tested in a double-blind study of 105 patients suffering from mild-moderate depression. The patients were male and female , 20 to 64 years of age, and diagnosed as having neurotic depression or temporary depressive mood. They were then divided into two groups and monitored over a period of four weeks. One group were given 300mg of St John's Wort extract, three times daily, and the other group were given a placebo. All of the patients were given psychiatric evaluations before the start of the study , and after two and four weeks of treatment.
The results revealed that, after the four weeks, 67% of the Hypericum group had responded positively to the treatment without any adverse side effects whereas only 28% of the placebo group showed any signs of improvement.
The authors of the study state clearly that the study was deliberately confined to patients affected by mild forms of depression because, for those patients, the possible risks of traditional antidepressants often outweighed any expected benefits. Indeed many patients within that category were known to refuse medications because of the possible side effects. Therefore, whilst there was no evidence to suggest that Hypericum would be of any benefit to patients suffering from the more serious forms of depression, in relation to the lesser but more common forms of depression, the researchers recommend: 'Hypericum should be used as a remedy of choice'.
Harrer. G, and Sommer.H., Treatment of Mild/Moderate Depressions With Hypericum, Phytomedicine, Vol. 1, 1994, pp 3 - 8.
From http://www.clinical-depression.co.uk/faq/herbal.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment