| Letter to The Editor - St. Johns Wort |

By: Shane Ellison, M.Sc.
Copyright © 2005, All Rights Reserved

In response to Garth Buchanan's opinion piece entitled Rethinking Herbs: Mr. Buchanan states that "When subject to clinical trials, the herb (St. Johns Wort) was found to be no more effective than a placebo, and not safe for people using certain medications". He continues by telling us that "More than $400 million a year in the United States alone is spent on this unsafe and ineffective product."

Mr. Buchanan, are you implying that American people are so ignorant that they would blindly spend $400 million a year on an ineffective supplement? This large-scale expenditure is the first indication that a supplement is working. However, I too am a scientist and appreciate hard facts derived from in-depth research. I found the antithesis of what you reported.

The Alternative Medicine Review states that "A large body of animal and human clinical research supports its anti-depressant effects". Furthermore, The School of Pharmacy at the University of London says that at least 30 controlled clinical trials have been carried out on St. Johns Wort. The studies concluded that there is no significant difference in the effectiveness for treating depression between St. Johns Wort and "approved" drugs like Prozac, Tofranil, Elavil, Ludiomil". Wow, this is a very significant point. And finally, Taylor and Francis Health Sciences reports that only a few cases of adverse reactions to St. Johns Wort have ever been reported.

Conversely, if we look at the safety of just one approved anti-depressant drug (Prozac) we find the following. As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, and the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry: 28% of Prozac users experience insomnia, 28% anxiety-nervousness, 26% nausea, 21% headaches, 18% sexual dysfunction, 17% sedation, 15% low energy, 12% dry mouth, 10 % stomach pain, 9% tremors, 7% profuse sweating. That is 191 side effects per 100 people. A disturbing side note: There has been a 62% increase over the last 5 years among children being prescribed the aforementioned anti-depressants for ADHD!

Mr. Buchanan, do you own stock in any pharmaceutical companies? Opinions like these are typically a result of financial interests rather than years of scientific research. Logic sais St. Johns Wort or any other natural alternative such as folic acid, L-tryptophan or whey isolate.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Shane holds a Master's degree in organic chemistry and has first-hand industry experience with drug research, design and synthesis. He understands that Americans want and deserve education rather than prescriptions. He is the author of the controversial and shocking book Health Myths Exposed. To learn more visit www.healthmyths.net. You can get his free eBook What You MUST know about Cholesterol Lowering Drugs at www.health-fx.net.