DOUBLE BLIND PLACEBO CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIAL EXAMINING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ST. JOHN’S WORT (HYPERICUM PERFORATUM) IN MILD TO MODERATE DEPRESSION
Abstract
Objective: To compare improvement in symptoms of mild to moderate depression after treatment with Hypericum perforatum (St. John’s Wort extract) and placebo.
Design: Double blind randomized controlled trial.
Place and duration of study: This study was conducted at the outpatient department of psychiatry at
Civil Hospital, Karachi from December 2006 to November 2007.
Subjects and Methods: This study is experimental, controlled randomized trial, done at out-patient department of Civil Hospital, Karachi on 112 patients who were assigned either St. John’s Wort or placebo group for treatment. Depression was measured at weekly interval using Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) for six consecutive weeks along with concurrent side effects.
Results: 234 out of 350 initially selected patients were randomly assigned to two different groups A & B receiving St. John’s Wort and placebo respectively. The efficacy of the treatments was evaluated after 14, 28 and 42 days of the treatments through changes in HAM-D score compared to Day 0. The Mean HAM-D score on Day 0 of St. John’s Wort treated and placebo treated was 18.04 (SD=3.6) and 17.50 (SD=3.1) respectively. A marked reduction in HAM-D score was evident at 14 to 42 days of the treatment in both groups, however at day 42 the reduction in HAM-D score observed with St. John’s Wort group was more from that of placebo.
Conclusion: St. John’s Wort extract is more effective than placebo in the treatment of mild to moderate depression and have comparable safety and tolerability profile.
Key words: Double-blind randomized controlled trial, Depression, Hypericum perforatum (St. John’s Wort), Placebo.
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