St. John’s Wort is a mild extract of a yellow flower, taken by many to treat depression, often without prior doctor consultation. Companies who sell it say it promotes a positive mood and emotional well-being.
The extract has been used for centuries to treat mental disorders and nerve pain, St. John’s wort has also been used as a sedative and a treatment for malaria, as well as a balm for wounds, burns, and insect bites. Today it is used by some for depression, anxiety and sleep disorders.
Many studies have found it effective for clinical depression, but physicians say more evidence is needed, particularly for severe cases. They equate it to the use of placebo, saying the lack of anything at all could serve better than this herbal medicine. Then again, there are also studies that say placebo to be more effective than Zoloft.
“The study, which found the plant extract no better than a placebo for treating major depression, followed a U.S. trial published in 2001, which found it ineffective.
But a review published late last year by the Cochrane Collaboration concluded that St. John’s Wort is better than a placebo for major depression and ’similarly effective’ to standard antidepressants, with fewer side effects,” The Wall Street Journal Health Blog.
Those who use the extract could think their depression is not severe enough to consider going to a physician. For some, it is a healthier, cheaper way to get the same result as a prescribed medication, with less side effects and stigma.
Skepticism from physicians also comes from the fact that the positive results tend to come from German-speaking countries such as Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The reason for this is still unknown but the discrepancy has to somehow come more from a sociological factor rather than a physical, since there is no biological reasons to back it up.
In the end, could the extract be a placebo itself? If someone believes to be depressed, I think should visit a physician nonetheless and let them make the decision. If not, exercise is an excellent placebo as well.
1 Comment
April 15, 2009 at 12:29 pm
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