Does anyone have a link for the latest research on St. John's Wort?!
Question:
Does anyone have a link for the latest research on St. John's Wort?
Answers:
According to latest research, Dr. Willmar Schwabe Pharmaceuticals' proprietary St. John's Wort extract WS? 5570 is at least as effective and better tolerated than standard treatment with prescription antidepressant paroxetine in the treatment of moderate to severe major depression[1]. The randomised, double-blind, reference-controlled, multicentre Phase III clinical trial investigated the antidepressant efficacy of WS? 5570 and paroxetine in 251 patients with acute major depression and was published online in the British Medical Journal http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/
In the new study, 251 patients with moderate to severe forms of depression were divided into two groups: one receiving 900 mg/day of WS? 5570, and the other 20 mg/day of paroxetine, for six weeks. Any patients not responding after two weeks had their dose doubled at that time. The higher dose was not associated with any relevant increase in adverse events for either drug.
WS? 5570 produced a significantly better improvement in patients as measured by internationally accepted diagnostics such as the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD). When compared to paroxetine, treatment with WS? 5570 shows an average advantage of 3 points for HAMD total score decrease versus baseline.
These results are in line with the findings of another recent clinical trial in 375 patients, showing a significant advantage of WS? 5570 over placebo[3].
"This study shows that WS? 5570 is at least equally effective and much better tolerated than one of the leading synthetic antidepressants" says Prof. A. Szegedi, principal investigator of the study and managing senior physician at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the CharityUniversity medizin Berlin. "WS? 5570 therefore represents a real alternative in the treatment of depression."