Mood disorders are becoming increasingly common in Western nations due to the constant stress that the general populace lives under. In the developing World the main stress is that of a physical nature, and this is more easily adaptable to by humans. Physical stress is much less common in developed Western nations, but instead the populace is exposed to a constant metal stress that can actually be much harder for the body to cope with. Both depression and anxiety are increasing as a response to this stress, and this is supported by data showing a significant increase in mood disorders in developed Western nations in recent times. In addition, the populations of the developed Western nations are often deficient in good nutrition as they largely consume the typical Western diet. A poor diet such as the typical Western diet can lower the resistance of the consumer to stress and as such magnify the negative effects of the stress. Treating mood disorders has therefore become a significant problem
A number of herbs have been shown to be effective in the relief of mild to moderate depression and anxiety. In many cases the mechanism of action of these herbs are not a obvious as those elicited by synthetic drugs, and this is largely a reflection that herbs are complex mixtures of many compounds, some of which have not been characterised. Drugs to treat depression generally work through a number of mechanisms that aim to increase the levels of certain neurotransmitters in the brain. This is largely achieved by increasing their synthesis rate or decreasing the breakdown rates of the neurotransmitters. Herbs appear to share many of the same mechanisms of actions as mood elevating drugs, and in studies, direct comparisons often show herbs to be just as effective as drugs in treating mild to moderate anxiety or depression. One important point that should be made is that consistently, despite being as effective as synthetic drugs in the treatment of mood disorders, herbs often show minimal adverse effects.
St John’s wort (pictured) may confer protection against mild to moderate depression because phytochemicals within the herb are able to inhibit the monoamine oxygenase system. This may raise brain levels of serotonin. However, St John’s wort also contains flavonoids that may inhibit the benzodiazepine receptor, giving it a mild anxiolytic effect through elevation of brain levels of GABA. Many herbs exhibit this multifaceted mechanism of action, and this may explain their effectiveness when compared to synthetic drugs which tend to work through a single isolated mechanism.
One target of synthetic mood elevating drugs in the Monoamine oxidase enzyme system. A number of herbs are able to inhibit monoamine oxygenase enzyme. St John’s wort is one such herb that may have this effect. Monoamine oxygenase is an enzyme that breaks down neurotransmitters in the brain including noradrenaline, dopamine and serotonin. By inhibiting this enzyme the phytochemicals in the herb can increase brain levels of these neurotransmitters. Another target of drugs is the GABA receptor, sometimes called the benzodiazepine receptor because this is the receptor through which the benzodiazepine drugs such as Diazepam work. A number of herbs can interact with this receptor, and in doing so raise brain levels of GABA, a neurotransmitter that has an inhibitory and therefore calming effect on brain activity. Lastly, many herbs can activate the serotonin receptors directly, and thus raise brain levels of serotonin in this way. A number of synthetic drugs also work through this mechanism.
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