St. John's wort

Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial studying the safety and efficacy of the botanical shows "350 mg three times daily hypericum extract STEI 300 was a more effective antidepressant than placebo and at least equally effective to 100 mg imipramine daily in the treatment of moderate depression," Michael Philipp, Landshut, Germany, et al., report in the Dec. 11 British Medical Journal. Over an eight-week period, the St. John's wort extract (supplied by Berlin-based Steiner Arzneimittel) was given to 100 subjects, the tricyclic drug imipramine to 105 patients and placebo to the remaining 46; follow-up occurred at weeks 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8. While the study produced positive results, the researchers note the dosage used was higher than that normally recommended, and the results should not be generalized to other extracts