Latest St John's wort Stories
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Many people use herbal medicines believing them to be safe simply because they are 'natural'. However many of these products have potentially dangerous interactions with other drugs and can have similar side effects to conventional drugs. This new study reveals that many over-the-counter herbal products do not contain any of the key information required for safe use.Despite their wholesome image, many herbal products have adverse effects and a third of users are...
Early research shows synthetic hypericin to be well-tolerated as a salvage therapy for malignant gliomasResearchers have found that a synthetic version of hypericin, a compound naturally found in St. John's wort, may be a promising treatment for patients with recurrent malignant brain tumors. Their findings were published online on March 31, 2011 in the journal Cancer.Malignant gliomas, tumors that arise in the brain or spine, are largely incurable cancers with a poor prognosis. An estimated...
Three new oral blood-thinning drugs nearing approval by the Food and Drug Administration are more convenient than the standard drug Coumadin® because they do not require monthly visits to adjust doses.But the promising drugs also could be subject to dangerous interactions when taken alongside widely used prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines such as aspirin and even herbal supplements such as St. John's Wort, according to a Loyola University Health System study."Many unknowns...
In a broad-based review of studies focused on drugs that treat anxiety, a Saint Louis University doctor found no evidence supporting the use of so-called "natural" treatments in combating the effects of anxiety.St. John's wort, kava extract and valerian, herbal remedies touted on the Internet, have not been proven to be effective in treating anxiety wrote Kimberly Zoberi, M.D., associate professor of family and community medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine....
A unique collection of St. John's wort (Hypericum) curated by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in Ames, Iowa, is providing university collaborators with genetically diverse, well-documented sources of this herb to use in studies examining its medicinal potential.In collaboration with Mark Widrlechner, a horticulturist with the ARS crop genebank at the North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station in Ames, scientists from the Center for Research on Botanical Dietary...
A Mayo Clinic research study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology finds that St. John's wort is not an effective treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). While antidepressants are frequently used to treat IBS, to date, no study has examined the success of using the herbal supplement St. John's wort in treating IBS."Our study investigated if herbal antidepressants such as St. John's wort could benefit irritable bowel disease patients," says...
A recent study shows that herbal supplements appeared to cause an increase in blood levels of lead among women.Dr. Catherine Buettner of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston studied 12,807 men and women and found blood lead levels about 10 percent higher in women, but not men, who used specific herbal supplements.When they examined herbal supplement use among women of reproductive age (age 16 to 45 years old), "the relationship with lead levels was even stronger, with lead...
Scientists reported on Wednesday that the common herb St. John's Wort could be useful as a treatment of major depression. Reporting in the Cochrane Review, researchers analyzed data from 29 clinical trials and found that St. Johns Wort extracts were more effective than placebos and as effective as standard antidepressants with fewer side effects. "The studies came from a variety of countries, tested several different St. John's Wort extracts, and mostly included patients suffering from...
By Lin, Hsiang-Wen Pickard, A Simon; Mahady, Gail B; Popovich, Nicholas G Objectives. To describe the conceptual development of a measure for assessing pharmacist knowledge of herbal and dietary supplements. Methods. A standardized approach to constructing a multiple-choice competency examination following 8 pre-specified criteria (eg, specifying the target spectrum of herbal and dietary supplements) was used to create an item bank. The quality of each item was evaluated by 5 herbal and...
Q: The label on my prescription bottle (diabetes med) says to avoid prolonged sun exposure. Why? A: Some drugs may cause a photosensitivity reaction (sensitivity to UVA rays of the sun or tanning devices). The result can be an exaggerated sunburn or, more rarely, an allergic reaction with itching and a blister-like eruption. Your best defense is to wear protective clothing and apply a sunscreen that protects against both UVB and UVA rays. Here's an alphabetized list of potentially...
