Guest Author - Carolyn Chambers Clark, ARNP, EdD

A combination of herbs has been shown to be effective for reducing moodiness and depression as well as increasing sleep quality. Read this article and find out what they are.

The combination of herbs useful for treating moodiness and mild depression includes St. John's wort, valerian and passion flower,according to Dr. Gerard P. McGregor. He presented his findings at a symposium on alternative and complementary therapies sponsored by the universities of Exeter and Plymouth.

The findings about herbs for depression were based on the results of a 6-week, double-blind study of 63 patients who were randomly assigned to either Neurapas balance (the herbal combination) or a placebo (sugar pill). Eighty-four percent of the participants who took the herbs had a 50% reduction in depression (as measured by the Hamilton Depression rating scale), and their scores fell from an average of 12.59 to 6.81 (almost in half) while those who took the sugar pill increased slightly.

The quality of sleep (as well as depression) also improved in the herbal treatment group and without any negative effective from taking the herbs.

The people in the group who received the herbs for depression took 360 mg/day of St. John's wort, 168 mg/day of valerian, and 192 mg/day of passion flowers. Other studies have used a dosage of St. John's wort from 900 mg to 1,500 mg/day, but Dr. McGregor said the lower dosage was effective and reduces the chance of medication/herb interactions. There have been reports of interactions of St. John's wort with indinavir, theophylline, cyclosporine and anti-convulsants, but St. John's wort has been approved for depression and sleep disorders by the German Commission E, an organization that evaluates the safety and effectiveness of natural medicines.

Both valerian and passion flower have sedative effects and are also approved by the German Commission E for the treatment of insomnia. Valerian is also included as a treatment in several European pharmacopoeias.

Source:

N. Walsh. Herbal combo effective for mild depression. Clinical Psychiatry News, February,2004.

For more information on depression, click on the title below or ask your librarian to order the book...