Via: Los Angeles Times

It works. It doesn’t. It works. It doesn’t. That’s health research news for you. One item that gives me whiplash, is the effectiveness — or not — of the herb St. John’s wort for relief of depression.

Here, for example, is what the National Institutes of Health says: “There is some scientific evidence that St. John’s wort is useful for treating mild to moderate depression. However, two large studies, one sponsored by NCCAM [the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine], showed that the herb was no more effective than placebo in treating major depression of moderate severity.”

The University of Maryland Medical Center says that, “In numerous studies, St. John’s wort has been effective in reducing depressive symptoms in those with mild to moderate but not severe (called major) depression.”

So one site says the herb’s effective in treating moderately severe major depression and the other says it’s not effective for major depression but is effective for moderate and mild depression that would not be defined as major.

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