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St John's Wort for depression

Cochrane Database of Systematic ReviewsPublished 26 October 1998
Klaus Linde, Cynthia D. Mulrow
Citations179
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.62
SNIP2.04

TL;DR

Whether extracts of hypericum are more effective than placebo and as effective as standard antidepressants in the treatment of depressive disorders in adults; and whether they have have less adverse effects than standard antidepressant drugs is investigated.

Abstract

Current evidence regarding hypericum extracts is inconsistent and confusing. In patients who meet criteria for major depression, several recent placebo-controlled trials suggest that the tested hypericum extracts have minimal beneficial effects while other trials suggest that hypericum and standard antidepressants have similar beneficial effects. As the preparations available on the market might vary considerably in their pharmaceutical quality, the results of this review apply only to the products tested in the included studies.

Keywords

PsychologyAgricultural and Biological Sciences