St. John's wort

This paper analyzes and synthesizes current literature on the use of St. John's wort in the treatment of depression. This herbal remedy has come under increasing examination as an alternative to anti-depressant medication such as Prozac. St. John's wort has been used extensively in Germany and been studied by the medical community there in sufficient depth to force the American and British medical communities to consider its efficacy. This paper looks at two types of coverage of this growing trend: 10 articles published in medical journals and one published in a business journal, compared with four books focusing on the herb, its background and effectiveness.

While many of the articles focus on evaluating the need for any kind of treatment, all four of the books concentrate on positive case studies, treatment plans, and other examples of enthusiastic acceptance of St. John's wort into the lives of their readers. The books, three of which are written by medical doctors, the fourth by a licensed herbalist, all start with the assumption that taking this herb is a smart choice, while the articles tend to stress the need for a clear professional diagnosis of depression before beginning treatment. This analysis offers an intriguing example of the difference between the mainstream medical community mindset and the movement toward natural remedies, self-diagnosis, and the acceptance of individual responsibility for personal health.

Depression is a serious problem. The mai

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vary even if their labels all list the same ingredients and quantities" (p. 8). St. John's wort has been used extensively by the mainstream medical community in Germany for long enough to have generated a series of clinical trials, which were analyzed in the August 3, 1996, issue of the British Medical Journal. This meta-analysis was the first English-language synthesis of studies of the effectiveness of St. John's wort in treating depression. Linde and his colleagues (1996, August 3) concluded, "Compared to placebo, hypericum extract effectively improved depressive symptoms" with fewer side effects than reported by users of pharmaceutical anti-depressants (p. 253), but they warned of the need for further, more rigorous tests before abandoning Prozac and other related drugs. A related piece in the same publication by Peter A. G. M. deSmet and Willem A. Nolen (1996, August 3) reiterated the article's call for further study, observing, "Among the many remarkable differences between German and British medicine is the extensive use of herbal medicines in Germany" (p. 241). DeSmet and Nolen suggest that one reason for this difference is the ready availability of herbal substances; they observe that the success which German docto

Category: Psychology - S