Question:
I was speaking to someone recently who told me about someone
he knew whom he described as manic-depressive but who was
not seeing a shrink about it. Instead he described the individual
in question as self-adminstering St.John's Wort to control
the condition.
Since I know nothing about this subject, I would like to know
whether St.John's Wort can in fact be used to treat manic-depression
and, if so, what is the active principle that makes this possible?
Answer:
Bipolar disorder is so serious, I wouldn't play games with it.
Antidepressants are sometimes given for BPD, when the person is intolerant
to lithium, or does not respond to it. But this is done under a
psychiatrist's care, with lots of feedback so s/he can know they are
getting it right. Antidepressants do not treat the manic stage. Quite
often, if a person likes his manic stage and does not take his meds until
the last minute before the crash, he guesses wrong, is too late, and then
the lithium doesn't work during the depressive stage. read a good article in a Healthy Living Guide about St. John's wort written
by Ronald Reichert, a naturopthaic doctor from Vancouver. This herb
apparently works in ways similar to the three main classes of
anti-depressants- MAOIs, tricyclics, and SSRIs- in that St. John's wort
inhibits the brain uptake of serotonin, which we need to have floating
around in the brain to feel un-depressed. The active ingredients might be
hypericin, quercitrin and hyperforin.In a study done in Germany (from this
same article) the herb worked as effectively as a regular anti-depressant
in 45-50% of cases.
I do know some people who have taken it and do feel it helps. It is
recommended for mild to moderate cases of depression. Since I've seen the
amazing things other herbs can do why knock Mother Nature, all our real
cures are in her wonderful world. I'm sure there will be more studies into
this herb.Even when an herb is shown to be effective, there is difficultyobtaining a
controlled and consistent dosage. This makes
synthesized versions of the active ingredients preferable. Even
synthesized medications are part of mother nature since mother
nature does not discriminate at the molecular level (which is
where chemistry takes place).
