Cute. I tend to remember things that work, not things that don't (/excuses)
Now as to SJW:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1917359.stm
Herb ineffective as anti-depressant (4/9/02)
The popular herbal supplement, St John's wort, is an ineffective treatment for depression, a major study has found.
The use of herb has grown massively in recent years as more people opt for so-called natural medicines.
Researchers have conducted the largest ever clinical trial into the impact of the herb on major depression - a moderately severe form of the condition.
The researchers, from Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, found it had no more impact than a dummy medicine.
***********
That's enough for me.
One thing about Wort though, I've never seen anyone claim it was for major depression.
Does St. John's wort work as a treatment for depression?
In Europe, results from a number of scientific studies have supported the effectiveness of certain St. John's wort extracts for depression. An overview of 23 clinical studies found that the herb might be useful in cases of mild to moderate depression.
The studies, which included 1,757 outpatients, reported that St. John's wort was more effective than a placebo (here, a "dummy" pill designed to have no effect) and appeared to produce fewer side effects than some standard antidepressants (Linde et al. British Medical Journal, 1996).
Other studies conducted recently have found no benefit from the use of St. John's wort for certain types of depression. For example, the results of a study funded by Pfizer Inc., a pharmaceutical company, found that St. John's wort, when compared with placebo, was not effective for treating major depression (Shelton et al. JAMA, 2001).
Gee, mega phemaceutical corporation Pfizer, makers of Zoloft, found St. John's Wort to be ineffective?
Now there's a shocker!
Side effects of ZOLOFT:
acute renal failure
anaphylactoid reaction (Hypersensitivity to a foreign substance)
angioedema (Excessive accumulation of fluid in the tissues)
blindness optic neuritis (Inflammation, pain or loss of motion in the eye)
increased blood coagulation times
bradycardia (Slowness of the heart rate, usually fewer than 60 beats per minute in an adult human)
arrhythmias (An irregularity in the force or rhythm of the heartbeat)
Tachycardia (A rapid heart rate, especially one above 100 beats per minute in an adult)
Hypothyroidism (Insufficient production of thyroid hormones)
Agranulocytosis (An acute disease marked by high fever and a sharp drop in circulating granular white blood cells)
The above list of Zoloft side effects from Postmarketing Evaluation is actually much longer than listed here.
Puhlezze, stop posting bbc propaganda. Do you know how many false studies that the media trumpets on other vitamins such as vitamin e and vitamin c? some of these studies use very small doseages, which almost guarantee the outcome will be negative.
the good thing about herbs is that when they observe a said effect ie w/ SJW WRT it's effects on depression, is that they can isolate the particular molecule within SJW that exerts this effect. in this case SJW's effect on depression is from hypericin.
this article is very broad but it leads me to believe that the trial was done with SJW, NOT hypericin.