St.
John's Wort
St.
John's Wort gets it's name from St. John the Baptist because it usually
flowers on June 24th, supposedly St. John's birthday. Some refer to
this plant as nature's Prozac which may be somewhat of an overstatement.
However, in Germany there are more prescriptions written for St. John's
Wort than there are for Prozac. Why is that? Because there is actually
scientific evidence that it works against depression, against anxiety,
against sleeplessness and even against premenstrual syndrome.
A
couple of years ago a large meta-analysis, a study of studies, showed
that it is indeed effective, although that study did not exactly compare
it against Prozac. It did work as well as many other antidepressants.
The active ingredient in it is something called hypericin. You will
see .3% hypericin on many bottles. Recent research indicates that
it is another compound called hyperferin, which is actually active
against depression.
So
is there any downside to taking St. John's Wort? First, depression
is not a matter for self diagnosis. Also, some people who take a lot
of this may have sun sensitivity. But the biggest concern we have
these days is a potential cross-reaction between the St. John's Wort
product and prescription medications. Medications like coumadin, a
blood thinner; digoxin, the heart medication; or cyclosporine, the
anti rejection drug. The problem is St. John's Wort induces the formation
of certains enzymes in the body that degrade some medications, to
perhaps even sub-therapeutic levels. Even the birth control pill may
be lowered in dose to a degree that it may not be effective.
