In Brief: St. John's wort
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
St. John's wort: NIH Office of Alternative Medicine and National Institute of Mental Health will issue a request for proposals in late May for a clinical trial to examine the safety and efficacy of treating mild to moderate depression with the herb Hypericum perforatum, or St. John's wort ("The Tan Sheet" Sept. 23, 1996, p. 7). The herb is commonly used in Europe as a treatment for depression. A meta-analysis of 23 trials conducted by German researchers that appeared in the Aug. 3 issue of the British Medical Journal concludes that the herb is superior to placebo for treating mild to moderate depression, although the study points out that an optimum dosage level or form is yet to be determined ("The Tan Sheet" Aug. 5, 1996, p. 16)...