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St John's Wort

Herbal remedies have been used throughout the world for thousands of years and recently their use has become popularized in America. People tend to view herbal remedies as being safer then prescription drugs because they are believed not to contain chemicals or cause side effects. St. John's Wort is an herbal remedy, which prevents the destruction of seratonin, a natural anti-depressant, is often used to treat depression. Due to the increasing interest it St John's wort, as well as in other herbal remedies, there has been a great deal of research done recently in the effectiveness and safety of this herb in regards to depression.

Depression is a mental illness, which affects millions of Americans each year. Currently there are many prescription drugs, called anti-depressants that have been proven to successfully treat it. The causes of depression are somewhat of a medical enigma, however, it is known that depression is associated with a change in the brains chemistry involving the function of neurotransmitters (Reichert). This chemical change occurs in healthy brain's, which experience sadness, but ends after the unpleasant stimulus is removed. In people suffering from depression this chemical change does not correspond to any particular stimulus. Symptoms of depression are often incapacitating and include severe and extended sadness, feelings of worthlessness, feelings of emptiness, irritability and anxiety (Reichert, Spake).

The first major study conducted on the matter in the United states found that St John's wort had negligible benefits on patients with major depression with no statistically significant benefits more then those produced by a placebo (Shelton). However other studies have "proved", not only that St. John's Wort is more successful in treatment of patients with depression, but that It is actually similarly or more effective than some tri-cyclic prescription antidepressants (Linde). The apparent contradictions in research findings are...