Herbal extract as good as antidepressant

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

An extract of St John's Wort proved as good as paroxetine in treating depression.
The herb St John's Wort contains an active compound called hypericum which has long been used to treat depression. However, there has not been a lot of hard clinical evidence of its effectiveness.

Now a team in Germany reports on a trail of over 300 patients with moderate to severe depression taking either hypericum extract or paroxetine for six weeks. After this time, around half in the hypericum group found an improvement in their symptoms, compared to just a third of those on paroxetine. Hypericum was also associated with fewer side effects. It may be that hypericum extract is a good treatment for depression, especially for those who prefer 'natural' solutions. Further research, with bigger trials, is now needed.

Source
BMJ Online First (bmj.com) 10th February 2005

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