Hypericum Saint John's Wort

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Studies show that Hypericum is 100% as effective in relieving depression as Prozac. It also boosts your immune system.
If you are taking any other antidepressant consult your doctor first because you should not stop your current medication.
Hypericum is not a cure - Once taking these tablets you will feel better but you will still have to face the original reason you became depressed. For this reason hypericum is very useful in bereavement where time heals.
The studies have all been done with the liquid form and there is evidence that the liquid form may be more effective, but it is more costly than tablets.
Studies indicate that you should take 1 mg of hypericum once or twice a day. Some manufacturers recommend taking three tablets or capsules per day. This may be unnecessary.
It takes ten days to see any effect and three to four weeks until maximum effect occurs. Similar to other SSRI inhibitors, like Prozac.
In the over 65s you should use half the dose.
Side effects are almost absent!
Use for no more than one year and reduce slowly over 28 days. Seek counseling to overcome your original depression.
The effects appear to be greater if the whole plant is used rather than the main active ingredient, Hypericin.

"St. John's Wort Extract is as effective as Imipramine

in treating Moderate Depression"

From the British Medical Journal 1999, Vol 319 pages 1534-1539

A study of 263 patients who were all undergoing treatment by their G.P. for moderate depression showed that Hypericum extract from St. John's Wort was as effective as Imipramine after 6 weeks and after 8 weeks of treatment.

Various medical standard assessments of depression include the Hamilton depression score, the Clinical Global Depression Scale, the Zung self rating depression scale and the SF-36 scale. In all cases Hypericum performed better than placebo (dummy drug with no active ingredient) and as effectively as Imipramine except that it performed better than Imipramine in the SF-36 scorings.

Side effects were the same for Hypericum as for placebo but significantly less than imipramine.

Dr. Philipp's team concludes "Patients tolerate hypericum extracts [St. John's Wort] much better than they do tricyclics [imipramine like drugs] and , therefore, by improving patients' compliance, hypericum extracts are promising drugs for long-term treatment.

Dr. Klaus Linde of Munich University and others made the comment that some physicians have a personal preference for a "chemically defined antidepressant" rather than a variable plant product, and that this might persuade them away from using Hypericum as a first choice, even though it is proven to be effective.

We believe the opposite. Time and again it has been shown that the major active ingredient is only part of the story and usually several other components which show less activity when purified, have what we refer to as a synergistic effect. This means that the total activity of each component individually is less than the total effect when given together.

This also means that when given as the whole plant, less of the active ingredient is required than would be needed if it was administered as the purified drug.

Often the ingredients in the plant material are in a more easily digestible or absorbable form.

If you are on these drugs:-

Tablets for Epilepsy or fits
Drugs following an organ transplant
Theophylline for Asthma or chronic Bronchitis
Digoxin for a heart condition
Warfarin for your blood
Drug treatment if you are HIV positive

You need to consult your G.P. before you stop taking St. John's Wort

If you are on any of the following treatments:-

The Contraceptive pill
Treatment for Migraine
Treatment for Depression

You should stop taking St. John's Wort and you do not need to see your doctor.

Remember that you should NEVER stop taking prescribed medicines without talking to your doctor first.