St. Johns Wort Matches Antidepressant Drug

St. Johns Wort Matches Antidepressant Drug

LONDONGerman researchers havefound a proprietary preparation of St. Johns wort is at least as effective asparoxetine in the acute treatment of moderate to severe depression. Results fromthe randomized, double blind, reference-controlled study were published online,in advance of print publication, in the British MedicalJournal (www.bmj.com).

The study involved 251 male and female outpatients from 21different psychiatric centers in Germany who suffered recurrent moderate orsevere unipolar major depression. Participants received either 20 mg/d ofparoxetine or 900 mg/d of hypericum extract WS 5570 for six weeks and wereassessed according to the 17- point Hamilton Depression Scale. Hypericum andparoxetine doses were increased to 1,800 mg/d and 40 mg/d, respectively, forsubjects who did not show a predetermined level of improvement after two weeks.

After six weeks, the hypericum group experienced a 14.4-pointor 56.6-percent drop in Hamilton score, while those taking paroxetine reducedtheir scores by 11.1 points, or 44.8 percent.The scientists also noted thenumber of adverse events reported by participants taking hypericum wassignificantly less than by the paroxetine group.

Our results support the use of hypericum extract WS 5570 asan alternative to standard antidepressants in moderate to severe depression,especially as it is well tolerated, the study authors concluded. We areassessing long-term treatment, for which the [herbal] drug can be an interestingoption because of its favorable ratio between efficacy and tolerability, in theongoing continuation phase. They cautioned hypericum could potentiallyinteract with other medications.

Hypericum extract WS 5570 is patented, developed and producedby Dr. Willmar Schwabe Pharmaceuticals in Germany, and it is available in theUnited States as WS 5572 or Perika® from Natures Way. Parxetine (also knownas Paxil®) is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) used by patientssuffering any level of depression.