St. John's Wort
- Hypericum Perforatum as a herbal, medicinal plant
- Other Potential Uses for St. John’s Wort
- How Does St. John's Wort work?
- How Does St. John's Wort work compared to pharmaceutical SSRIs?
- St John’s Wort: Mood and Whole Body Support
- St. John's Wort drug interactions and adverse effects
- What is Serotonin Syndrome?
- Evidence
- Products
Hypericum perforatum or hypericum perforatum L. is an herb and flower used historically to help with mood balance. St. John’s Wort (hypericum perforatum) is a herb with a yellow flower that has a mood balancing effect on the body. St John's Wort has been used to support mood balance for centuries because of its anti-depressant properties. This herb also called hypericum perforatum contains the physical constituents hypericin and hyperforin that are responsible for its medicinal benefits. Hypericin and hyperforin can cross the blood brain barrier entering into our brains and nourishing our nervous system as well as balancing our neurotransmitters. This can lead to improvements in mood and has an overall balancing and nourishing effect on our beings.
St John's Wort is a yellow flower that is part of the Hypericaceae family. The St. John's plant is mainly found in Europe and Asia but has since been introduced and thrived in North America. There are multiple different types of plants in the same family as St. John's Wort but it is the H. Perforatum that has been shown to have the most medicinal benefit.
What does the flower look like?
The flower of St. John's plant is yellow with approximately 5 leaves and small in size. The St. John's flower grows on stalks with multiple of them per stem. The St. John's flower blooms in June around the summer solstice each year.
Where does the name St. John's Wort come from?
Historically the St. John's plant has thought to have had supernatural impacts. St. John's bloomed around the summer solstice and was thought to be a protective plant to help people inside the house stay well and keep bad things out. The name St. John's Wort was after St. John's Feast Day which is a day to celebrate the summer solstice in Europe.
Medicinal Properties of Hypericum
- mood balancing
- anti-inflammatory
- anti-microbial
- nervine tonic
- vulnerary (wound healing)
Based on its multiple mechanisms of actions St John's Wort has been shown to have evidence in treating other conditions
- Menopause - can be used to black cohosh to help regulate menopausal symptoms such as mood, hot flashes, sleep.
- Moderate Depression
- Major Depression
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders
- Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder
- Somatic Symptom Disorder
- Anxiety
- Digestive Disorders
- Pain
How Does St. John's Wort work?
St. John's Wort contains a couple of different active components, hypericin, hyperforin and adhyperforin. These components appear to impact multiple neurotransmitters in the brain.
The component hypericin found in St. John's can cross the blood-brain barrier and increase dopamine levels. Dopamine is one of our neurotransmitters that helps us to feel good. It is often known as the pleasure neurotransmitter.
Another active ingredient of St. John's herb, hyperforin has been shown to influence the neurotransmitters and central nervous system to help improve mood.
Most often Hypericum extracts and health products are standardized to the hypericin extract but there is evidence that the hyperforin component is also important for the synergistic antidepressant effect of the herbal St. John's Wort.
How Does St. John's Wort work compared to pharmaceutical SSRIs?
St. John’s Wort works in multiple different ways to influence our neurotransmitters and nervous system and therefore influence our mood. St. John's has been shown to increase the amount of serotonin present in the body similarly to pharmaceutical drugs that treat mood. It acts on specific serotonin receptors in the brain in order to prevent the reuptake of serotonin. This increases the concentration of serotonin that is present in the brain at one time. This is thought to help with mood regulation the same way that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) do.
The main difference between pharmaceutical SSRIs and herbal St. John's Wort is that the pharmaceutical drugs only work by one method of action whereas St. John’s Wort has multiple methods of action that come from using the whole plant. This is one of the most unique aspects of herbal medicine; they work on multiple pathways and systems to help balance the body and mind.
Studies vs placebo have shown that St. John’s Wort is effective in treating symptoms of depression, please ask your healthcare provider if this is right for you.
St John’s Wort: Mood and Whole Body Support
St. John's Wort is a herbal mood balancer that can have similar effects to antidepressants without the same adverse effects or reliance. This makes St. John's a great option for people with depressive symptoms or any kind. It has been shown to have benefit in major depressive disorder based on clinical trials. Beyond its mood balancing impacts St. John's Wort has many other beneficial impacts on the body that could support mood and overall health.
What makes Hypericum different?
St John's Wort action on the central nervous system, demonstrate that it can impact nerves in other areas of the body. This allows St. John's to help coordinate the function of the digestive organs where there is a second nervous system. It also helps to relieve tension in the digestive organs as well as the whole body.
St John's Wort also has anti-inflammatory action. This can help in both brain inflammation as well as digestive inflammation. This means that it can also help in chronic pain, nervous exhaustion, emotional depression, mental and physical weakness, anxiety, stress and fear working to decrease the physical impacts these processes are having.
St. John's Wort can also help to relieve tension and improve blood circulation. This adds to its action for treating mood symptoms like low mood and moderate depression are often associated with stagnation in the body based on traditional medicines. This means St John's Wort can also help in the pain of any kind as well as menstrual problems such as pain and PMS.
These many different actions that St. John's has demonstrates the benefits of herbal products. While St. John's has some specific constituents that work directly on the brain neurotransmitters, it also has various other mechanisms of action that work on the body as a whole and amplifies its impacts. This makes it very clear why it would be more effective than a placebo in clinical trials in treating moderate depression.
St. John's Wort drug interactions and adverse effects
St. John's should be taken with caution as it has many herb-drug interactions. This is because St John's up-regulates specific enzymes in the liver that change the way that the body metabolizes many medications. These enzymes are known as P450-mediated enzymes. Hypericum Perforatum induces these enzymes so that drugs that are metabolized by these enzymes are metabolized and removed from the body faster than they normally would be. This decreases the effectiveness of these medications so that they may not work properly. This includes medications such as birth control pills.
St. John's can also have very severe side effects when taken with standard antidepressants. While serotonin is a very beneficial neurotransmitter too much of it can be very detrimental for the body and can lead to serotonin syndrome. St. John's should never be taken with any other natural or pharmaceutical remedies that increase serotonin in the body.
Other adverse reactions or side effects of St. John's include sunburns because of its phototoxic properties. This can make our skin more sensitive to the sun and result in easier burning. This is more common when St. John's is used externally, but those who take this herbal remedy internally should be aware of this side effect and exercise caution when out in the sun especially if they are fair-skinned.
What is Serotonin Syndrome?
Serotonin Syndrome is a severe medical emergency that results from having too much of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the body. Taking Hypericum in combination with other drugs such as antidepressants that increase serotonin levels in the body can have a side effect.
Symptoms of this condition include: high body temperature, agitation, increased reflexes, tremor, sweating, dilated pupils, diarrhea, seizures, muscle breakdown, increase heart rate, shivering, high blood pressure, & insomnia.
These can lead to severe complications including death. Serotonin Syndrome is an emergent condition and should be treated immediately.
Evidence
St. John’s Wort has been studied extensively in clinical trials and has been found to be more effective than placebo in treating depression, as effective as TCAs (tricyclic antidepressants) and SSRIs in treating depression and has been shown to improve mood, decrease anxiety, decrease somatic symptoms and decrease insomnia related to mild-to-moderate to major depression.
“American College of Physicians/American Society of Internal Medicine states that St. John’s Wort can be considered an option along with conventional antidepressants for short-term treatment of mild depression”.
It is important to consult a health care provider to find out what herbal supplements or other drugs might be the best to support your own mood and well-being as both drugs and natural health products that support mood can have serious side effects and interactions.
Disclaimer
Pascoe Canada does not offer health or medical advice as we are not a healthcare practitioner. Please speak with your healthcare practitioner before beginning any program related to nutrition, diet, exercise, fitness, medical, and/or wellness. All content published by Pascoe Canada is developed through collaborating with licensed medical professionals and contributors. This includes text, graphics, images, and other material on the website, newsletter, and products (“Content”). This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The content does not substitute professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please always do your own research on whether this is for you along with your healthcare practitioner advice. Always consult your healthcare practitioner prior to use specific herbs because you might have underlined conditions needs professional care. The content is general in nature and are subject to change. It is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects.
What can Hypericum Help with or is indicted for
- depression and depressive disorders
- dysthymia
- heart palpitations
- mood disturbances
- somatization disorder
- premenstrual symptoms (PMS)
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder
What can Hypericum Help with or is indicted for
- depression and depressive disorders
- dysthymia
- heart palpitations
- mood disturbances
- somatization disorder
- premenstrual symptoms (PMS)
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder
What can Hypericum Help with or is indicted for
- depression and depressive disorders
- dysthymia
- heart palpitations
- mood disturbances
- somatization disorder
- premenstrual symptoms (PMS)
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder
What can Hypericum Help with or is indicted for
- depression and depressive disorders
- dysthymia
- heart palpitations
- mood disturbances
- somatization disorder
- premenstrual symptoms (PMS)
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder