St. Johns Worts Healing Reputation Is Upheld

According to an Instant Poll of The Science Advisory Board, 41% of the participants would be inclined to receive treatment with St. Johns wort for mild to moderate depression.

ARLINGTON, VA (PRWEB) July 12, 2003 -- According to an Instant Poll of The Science Advisory Board, 41% of the participants would be inclined to receive treatment with St. Johns wort for mild to moderate depression. For many centuries, St. John's wort has been employed for medicinal purposes.

Despite the fact that the herbs mechanism of action is not well understood, there is some scientific evidence that St. John's wort is useful for treating mild to moderate depression.

The relatively high percentage of individuals willing to try such a treatment supports a widening acceptance in the scientific and medical communities for alternative and complementary therapies.

Obviously, this acceptance is dependent upon sound scientific data as evidenced by the fact that only 14% would use the herb to treat anxiety and even less, 8%, would utilize it as a therapy for sleep disorders. The effectiveness of St. Johns wort against both anxiety and sleep disorders has not been convincingly demonstrated.

However, despite this apparent enthusiasm for the herbs potential powers, slightly more than one-third of those polled state that they would not use St. Johns wort to treat depression, anxiety or sleep disorders. I suspect that part of this hesitancy is due to concern about the systematic effects the herb has on the body," states Dr. Tamara Zemlo, Director of Scientific and Medical Communications for The Science Advisory Board.

From studies published in the medical literature, St. Johns wort appears to be an inducer of the cytochrome P450 system, which is a vital metabolic pathway. Because many prescription drugs used to treat heart disease, cancer and AIDS; manage transplant rejection; or prevent pregnancy are metabolized via this pathway, there could be dangerous and unforeseen complications of combining such alternative therapies with conventional medicine.

Unlike prescription drugs, herbal products are frequently sold without information on dosage, safety or effectiveness.

Furthermore, the quality and purity of these products are often variable; information on labels may therefore be misleading or inaccurate.

ABOUT THE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD

The Science Advisory Board is an online panel of more than 15,600 scientists, physicians and other life science and medical professionals from 62 countries. By convening electronically, Science Advisory Board members participate in online studies to voice their opinions on issues that directly affect the evolution and development of the tools and techniques of their professions.

The Science Advisory Board is currently conducting ongoing studies in other exciting areas of the life sciences. Scientists can contribute their own views on the tools and techniques of their field by participating at http://www.scienceboard.net.

The Science Advisory Board was organized in 1997 by BioInformatics, LLC (http://www.gene2drug.com), a research and consulting firm located in Arlington, VA.

CONTACT:
Dr. Tamara Zemlo
Director, Scientific & Medical Communications
The Science Advisory Board
2111 Wilson Blvd, Suite 250
Arlington, VA 22201
703.778.3080 x 25 phone
t.zemlo@scienceboard.net
http://www.scienceboard.net

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