St. John's Wort Helps Some Patients With Major Depression

The herbal medicine St. John's wort appears to work just as well as some prescribed antidepressants for treating patients with major depression, a new review finds. However, patients in German-speaking countries might experience the best benefits. While there is public interest in the United States about whether St. John's wort adequately treats depression, in some countries, like Germany, doctors commonly prescribe it for mild symptoms. Authors of the review found that studies with German patients did, in fact, have the best results. "The most striking finding from our review is that trials from German-speaking countries have clearly more positive effects, both compared to placebo and standard antidepressants, than trials from elsewhere," said lead reviewer Klaus Linde of the Centre for Complementary Medicine Research at... [read full story]