St John's wort, conventional medication, and placebo: an egregious double standard.
The efficacy of antidepressant medication is generally thought to be well established, whereas that of hypericum (St John's wort) is considered doubtful. The data fail to support these discrepant conclusions. Instead they show that hypericum and conventional antidepressants are equally effective (or ineffective). This suggests that different standards are being used to evaluate the two types of treatment.
Kirsch
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Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA. irving.kirsch@uconn.edu
D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D020902:Hypericum; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D008517:Phytotherapy; D015990:Placebo Effect; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000928:Antidepressive Agents