Depression, pain, and anxiety are normal human emotions, but in the 21st century, they are increasingly pathological. Depression is a common mental illness, with typical symptoms of low mood and slow thinking, which brings serious trouble to patients' life and work. The pathogenic factors of depression are not only various, but also intricate. They are often caused by a combination of physiological, psychological and environmental factors, and are prone to repeated attacks. At present, the treatment for depression mainly includes drug therapy, psychotherapy, and physical therapy. Among them, antidepressant drugs are the most common, but most drugs have side effects and certain drug resistance, which will cause harm to human health. Therefore, compared with traditional antidepressant drugs, most patients prefer to choose natural, safe plant extracts or herbal medicines for relief. Such as St John’s wort extract, Is St John's Wort effective for depression? Actually, St John’s wort extract has a good antidepressant effect, and its efficacy has been confirmed by many clinical studies.
The latin name of St John’s wort extract is Hypericum perforatum L. Modern scientific research proves that St John's wort extract contains hypericin and St. John's wort resin, which has anti-depressant, anti-viral, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory and immune-enhancing properties. With the continuous development of scientific research, St John's wort extract has also been confirmed in the treatment of mild to moderate depression and anxiety. A study in 2016 involving 960 adults in 14 studies showed that a daily intake of 500 to 1,800 mg of Hypericum perforatum extract can significantly relieve depression as much as standard antidepressant prescription drugs. The study found that St John's wort extract improves mood and anxiety symptoms by reducing the body's reabsorption of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine to achieve antidepressant effects.
In some European countries, St John’s wort is widely used in folk medicine, as a sedative, anti-inflammatory drug, improving bronchitis and genitourinary system inflammation, hemorrhoids, and also used for conditioning trauma such as burns, various ulcers and other diseases. It has been used as an antidepressant in Germany for a century and is now listed as an over-the-counter drug for the adjunctive treatment of antipsychotic depression and AIDS. At the same time, there are some precautions that need to be observed in the process of taking St John’s wort extract,
St John's wort products should not be taken in combination with SSRIs because of the risk of serotonin syndrome such as high blood pressure, high fever, hot flashes, hyperreflexia, dizziness, disorientation, and myoclonus. In addition, caution must be exercised in those patients taking multiple medications, as some serious reactions such as transplant rejection, breakthrough pregnancy and the development of anti-HIV strains may occur.
