Herbal Remedy as Good as Drug for Depression
(London, Reuters Health, 2/11/05)

The German company, Dr Willmar Schwabe Pharmaceuticals, funded a study comparing their extract from St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) with the antidepressant paroxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor sold as Paxil or Seroxat. Professor Armin Szegedi of the University of Berlin, and team, studied 251 adult patients for six weeks. The researchers found that half of the subjects taking the St Johns wort extract, WS 5570, reported improvement, compared to only a third who took the paroxetine. Furthermore, the WS 5570 group reported fewer side effects. These results suggest that St Johns wort may be effective against depression and better tolerated than antidepressant drugs; although, some scientists caution that it can interfere with such conventional treatments as antibiotics and chemotherapy.