Posted by linkadge on November 3, 2009, at 17:33:38
In reply to Re: You Must Use Caution With St. Johns Wort, posted by bulldog2 on November 3, 2009, at 11:23:58
>Saw one study where cows were fed sjw in their >feed. They developed developed cataracts over >the period of one year and also horrible skin >burns. The hypericin makes the skin very sun >sensitive and can easily cause eye damage and >skin damage.
Yeah, I don't know if I buy that study. The first thing is dose - just how much were the cows fed? I have read other animal studies refuting the notion that SJW could cause significant photosensitivity in clinical doses.
>This is beyond anecdotal at this point. I also >developed severe cataracts the summer I used sjw.
Yeah, I just did a google search and certainly didn't come across anything I would consider conclusive. Lamotrigine and seroquel have been linked to possible cateract development too. But again, these are animal toxicological studies where they are fed many hundreds times the upper human limit.
>This is a little more serious than grapefruit >juice. The fact that the fda hasn't gotten to it >is not a reason to feel warm and fuzzy.
Actually, I don't think it is more serious than grapefruit juice personally. Grapefruit juice can significantly alter the metabolism of many medications.
In germany SJW is (or was) the most prescribed antidepressant - and had far fewer adverse drug reports than the next leadning SSRI's.
There are adverse reactions to many herbal products and if you just do a google search you can find something on pretty any herb.
In the grand scheme though I don't think there is any great risk to the population at large.
What medications were you taking with SJW? SJW should never be taken with other antidepressants, or stimulants. I think that is asking for serotoning syndrome.
Linkadge
poster:linkadge
thread:924178
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20091029/msgs/924323.html