Letters
St John's wort for depression
EDITOR,--The meta-analysis about the use of St John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) for depression1 and the accompanying editorial highlight2 two important points. The first is the growing interest in phytotherapy in Britain and the large amount of scientific data that still needs to be collected to confirm the anecdotal evidence about the safe and effective use of such preparations (which are often used for self treatment). There is a serious shortage of funds available for the necessary work to be carried out at all levels, but there is also a need for more clinicians in Britain to be willing to participate in clinical trials of well authenticated herbal material.
The second important point is that plants to be used for phytotherapy need to be identified correctly. The illustration in the editorial is not of Hypericum perforatum but of another species of Hypericum.2 H perforatum does not have the leaf shape or
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Relevant Article
- St John's wort for depression--an overview and meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials
- Klaus Linde, Gilbert Ramirez, Cynthia D Mulrow, Andrej Pauls, Wolfgang Weidenhammer, and Dieter Melchart
BMJ 1996 313: 253-258.[Abstract] [Full Text]
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