{"id":1930,"date":"2009-01-20T10:50:47","date_gmt":"2009-01-20T16:50:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/?p=1930"},"modified":"2021-10-11T13:00:06","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T18:00:06","slug":"st-johns-wort-as-effective-as-pharmaceuticals-for-mild-depression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/20\/st-johns-wort-as-effective-as-pharmaceuticals-for-mild-depression","title":{"rendered":"St. John&#8217;s Wort as Effective as Pharmaceuticals for Mild Depression"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Several years ago, the herbal antidepressant St. John\u2019s Wort (SJW), best known for its excellent combination of effectiveness and absence of side effects, was dealt a serious and unfair blow by the US pharmaceutical industry. But there\u2019s a hopeful end to this tip, so read on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In an example of how the industry\u2019s greed will stop at nothing to dismantle competition, Pfizer, maker of the antidepressant Paxil, actually went through a series of complicated steps to destroy SJW, which was emerging as an effective alternative to prescription antidepressants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, Pfizer acquired a small herbal supplement company. Second, with the stated goal of \u201cpublic safety,\u201d Pfizer sponsored a study using SJW for <a href=\"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2014\/11\/03\/depression-inflammation-and-you\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">depression<\/a>, minimizing the fact that the patients they selected had been referred from other doctors as those with very deep depression for whom antidepressants hadn\u2019t worked. Naturally, SJW didn\u2019t fare well and Pfizer\u2019s wish came true. A study bashing SJW was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Follow-up articles appeared all over the popular press stating SJW just didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>About a year later, a largely unread article in the British Medical Journal tore apart the JAMA article, commenting acidly that the researchers had deliberately ignored more than 100 previous studies showing SJW\u2019s effectiveness, and that the project was tainted since the researchers were on Pfizer\u2019s payroll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the damage had been done. Sale of SJW plummeted and, for years, most conventional physicians in the US continued to believe the herb didn\u2019t do anything for depression. Until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A European meta-analysis of SJW reviewing 29 previous studies tracking 5,500 patients has been published with some very interesting findings. Understand that a meta-analysis examines data of already existing research to make sure the numbers were interpreted correctly. Meta-analysts look for such study flaws as incorrect patient selection, inadequate dosages, and incorrect interpretation of results. The Pfizer study would be regarded as deeply flawed because of incorrect patient selection and financial conflict-of-interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are the results of the meta-analysis:<br>\u2022 SJW works better than a placebo (dummy pill) for mild to moderate depression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 SJW works for mild to moderate depression about as well as prescription SSRI antidepressants (such as Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, and Lexapro.) It\u2019s less effective for more severe depression, where higher doses of prescription medications are needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 Prescription SSRIs are often discontinued because of side effects, most commonly weight gain, diminished sexual interest, and emotional flatness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 SJW has virtually no side effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 SJW is a more effective antidepressant in German-speaking countries, apparently because patients and physicians believe in its effectiveness. Parenthetically, this phenomenon of \u201cmutual belief\u201d (or lack thereof) has been shown to transcend virtually all therapies. Patients who \u201cknow\u201d surgery or chiropractic or acupuncture will help them have better results than skeptics and doubters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep in mind that the European investigators received no financial incentives to perform this study. In response to this meta-analysis, a reporter contacted Dr. Richard C. Shelton of Vanderbilt University, who had been extremely well paid by Pfizer several years earlier for his article demolishing SJW. Not surprisingly, Dr. Shelton dared not bite the hand that (over)fed him. He stated categorically that these European findings \u201cshould be considered with some skepticism\u201d and that further studies were needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For further reading on the subject of the corrupt relationship between some doctors and drug companies. Click this link for a New York Review of Books article \u201cDrug Companies &amp; Doctors: A Story of Corruption,\u201d on the incredibly tainted collusion between the pharmaceutical industry and academic medicine, especially academic psychiatrists. It\u2019s written by Marcia Angell, MD, former Editor in Chief of The New England Journal of Medicine, and its thesis is likely to shock you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Be well,<br>David Edelberg, MD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Several years ago, the herbal antidepressant St. John\u2019s Wort (SJW), best known for its excellent combination of effectiveness and absence of side effects, was dealt a serious and unfair blow by the US pharmaceutical industry. But there\u2019s a hopeful end to this tip, so read on. In an example of how the industry\u2019s greed will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2087,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,10,3,34,43,70],"tags":[192,194,36],"class_list":["post-1930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-d","category-knowledge-base","category-mental-health","category-nutrition-nutritional-supplements-vitamins-herbal-remedies","category-s","tag-depression","tag-st-johns-wort","tag-stress"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>St. John&#039;s Wort as Effective as Pharmaceuticals for Mild Depression<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SJW works for mild to moderate depression about as well as prescription SSRI antidepressants.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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