St. John's Wort - For depression and stress

Name:
Common Name: St. John's wort, Hypericum
Botanical Name: Hypericum perforatum, L

Parts Used: Whole fresh plant in flower

Native to Europe and Asia, now grown worldwide. Products containing St. John's wort are made from the dried flowering tops and upper parts of the plant. They are harvested from the wilds during July-August, just before or just as flowering begins.

napthodiamthrones (hypericin, flavonoids, and proanthocyanidin polymers), phloroglucinols (hyperforin and adhyperforin). These molecules are not distributed evenly throughout the plant, so depending on the source of the raw materials, hypericum formulations will contain variable amounts of each. Products are usually standardized for their content of hypericin.

St. John's wort is used internally to treat anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Externally, it is used for wounds, due to injuries or viral infections.

Products contain this herb      MoodMax      PeniSOS

Laboratory researches of hypericum extract have shown that St. John's wort prevents the reuptake of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters refer to serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. Increased levels of serotonin in certain parts of the brain, resulted from blocking its reuptake, provides antidepressant effects. For example, ProzacÔ, a common known antidepressant, do have an action of preventing the reuptake of serotonin. Well-controlled studies of outpatients with mild or moderate depression have shown that hypericum extracts are superior to placebo and about as effective as standard antidepressants

Los Angeles Times, in August 1998, placed an analyzed report on ten different brands of St. John's wort. The reuslt showed only 3 of the 10 brands tested contained the amount advertised on the labels. In three cases, the hypericin content was less than half the amount stated. The findings of the survey only serve to emphasize the need for consumers to deal with reputable companies with established names. Animals feed with St. John's wort would developed phytotoxic reactions, and patients treated with large dose of this herb also developed severe sunburns.

300-900 mg per day of a 5:1 extract of the flowering tops and leaves standardized to contain 0.3% hypericin in a complex of other compounds. A daily dose of 2 to 4 grams of crude drug containing 0.2 to 1 mg of total hypericin. Minimal treatment time is 4-6 weeks.

St. John's wort is a herb using the flowers and the plan commonly for depressant. The effective component is hyerforin and the amount containing in the commercial products reflects their potency.

The 16th century herbalist John Gerard described this golden yellow flowering herb as a precious remedy for wound. Because the juice from the crushed flowers is blood red, it was thought to be a good herb for bleeding wounds. The herb flowers mostly in the late June, around the time of St. John's Day that might be why the name it called. The antidepressant properties of the herb were recognized on Culpeper's Complete Herbal and English Physician, published in 1862, claimed that a tincture made from wine and hypericum flowers could ward off melancholy and insanity. Now, because of the extensive use on mood problems the name of St. John's wort is merely bind to depression or anxiety.