St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) extract has been shown to be a beneficial herb for the treatment of mild to moderate depression. In this regard it outperforms a placebo and has shown to be as effective as tricyclic antidepressants and fluoxetine. With more severe depression however, the efficacy of St John’s wort has been more controversial, with some studies finding positive effects, but other finding that St John’s wort is no more effective than a placebo. One of the advantages of St John’s wort is that it is far better tolerated compared to pharmaceutical drugs, and the side effects of the herb are much more mild. The lack of side effects makes St John’s wort a good choice for those with mild depression, but the lack of effects of St John’s wort against more severe depression bring into question its use. However, often severe depression is difficult to treat even with pharmaceuticals in combination with other therapies, and the lack of efficacy of St John’s wort should therefore be kept in context.
St John’s wort has been shown to be as effective as pharmaceutical drugs in the treatment of mild to moderate depression. In more severe depression, the results for St John’s wort are less consistent, but there evidence has been published to show it can be as effective as pharmaceutical drugs. One big advantage of St John’s wort is that it has significantly fewer side effects that drugs. St John’s wort is used as a prescription drug in some countries for the treatment of mild to moderate depression.
In fact, some studies have shown St John’s wort to be effective against some forms of moderate to severe depression. For example, in one study, researchers investigated the effects of St John’s wort extract and paroxetine on patients with acute major depression. Subjects received 900 mg of St John’s wort in three divided doses per day. Those who did not respond to the treatment had their dose increased to 1800 mg per day. Other subjects received 20 mg per day paroxetine or, if they did not respond, 40 mg per day paroxetine. The results of the study showed that depression decreased significantly more (-56.6 %) of baseline values in the St John’s wort group compared to the paroxetine group (-44.8 %). The data showed that paroxetine was not superior to St John’s wort in the treatment of severe depression. Interestingly St John’s wort showed a significantly lower level of side effects compared to paroxetine. Therefore in these subjects St John’s wort was at least as effective as paroxetine in the treatment of severe depression.
Eat Well, Stay Healthy, Protect Yourself
RdB
