Tag: medication

Ibuprofen and the fertile imagination

There is an astounding variety of painkillers available for purchase both in supermarkets, chemists, and corner shops. Just take a look at the shelf of your nearest Tesco or Sainsbury. You have various types of paracetamol, both made by pharmaceutical companies as well as in house versions of the supermarkets.

What is the difference between them and why are there so many varieties?

When pharmaceutical companies take on the decision to manufacture a new drug, they are given a twenty-year patent which covers the research into the product, testing and manufacturing, and sales. The period of twenty years, a monopoly as such, is to reward them for the time invested into the research. In the course of the research into the product, pharmaceutical companies must publish various forms of medical evidence and put it into public domain, so that if there is any medical evidence that points to the contrary, these can be debated both by the medical community and the pharmaceutical world.

The problem, if we can call it that, is that business is a very competitive world, and if research is put out in the open without any form of intellectual protection, any manufacturer can pounce on the research undertaken by someone else who has taken the effort and trouble to do it, and produce their product off the back of it. They would have saved the time and cost investment.

Imagine if a writer has taken the time to research a topic, organise his thoughts succinctly, and find a publisher. And when his book is published, someone else photocopies it, binds the copied pages and subsequently peddles it as their own.

Within the period of twenty years, a pharmaceutical company has to research, market and sell enough of the product to recoup the investment costs and profit. It is after the twenty period has expired that the other sharks enter the fray. This is where you get the supermarket brands of the product, which are cheaper because they don’t need to pay for research.

What is the difference between brand names and generics? They essentially do the same thing. But if the original company has done a good job in making the product synonymous with its own brand, then you might think they are better. If you take Neurofen for headaches, then you might think it better than Tesco ibuprofen, even though they both contain the same active ingredient.

But pharmaceutical companies have to reinvent themselves, to make varieties of the same product, otherwise they will lose their market share and eventually die out. If you realise that Neurofen is matched in ability by the cheaper Tesco ibuprofen, you would buy the latter, unless you are persuaded that Neurofen for Flus and Colds, or Neurofen Muscle Pain has something clinically formulated for that specific purpose.

So the shelves of supermarkets are stacked with different priced products with the same active ingredient, as well as different varieties of the same product.

Painkillers are a common medicine because there will always be a demand for pain management.

The availability of pain relief medicine means it is easy for the average individual to obtain them. There is the possibility of overdose, and while this may be a rarity, there is a higher likelihood that the greater availability may mean individuals are taking more doses than they should.

What are the long term health impacts of taking ibuprofen for prolonged periods?

One problem is that the body adapts and so the long-term resistance is affected. In certain groups such as the elderly, aspirin also increased the risks of stomach bleeding.

A clinical trial seemed to suggest it may impact on testosterone production and hence affect fertility.

Test subjects were administered 2 x 600mg doses of ibuprofen daily for six weeks, much higher than the average dose. The sample size was only a small group of 30, and half received ibuprofen, while the others received a placebo. It would have been better if the subject group had been greater, so that there could be more confidence in the test results, but because a test of such nature is to examine human resistance to what is essentially toxicity, it would have been unethical to involve a large group of participants. The research findings found that there was no impact on testosterone already in the body, but the pain relieving nature of ibuprofen, as a relaxant of sorts, had impact on the production of testosterone and appeared to slow down production.

How did these reports end up in the media? The tabloids had a field day, and you would undoubtedly have found one with the usual wisecracks about balls and other man-related genitalia, along the lines of “Ibuprofen shrinks your balls” or “Ibuprofen smalls your balls”.

Maybe instead of Ibuprofen for colds or fast relief, we need Ibuprofen for Dummies.

A short history of non-medical prescribing

It had long been recognised that nurses spent a significant amount of time visiting general practitioner (GP) surgeries and/ or waiting to see the doctor in order to get a prescription for their patients. Although this practice produced the desired result of a prescription being written, it was not an efficient use of either the nurses’or the GPs’time. Furthermore, it was an equally inefficient use of their skills, exacerbated by the fact that the nurse had usually themselves assessed and diagnosed the patient and decided on an appropriate treatment plan.

The situation was formally acknowledged in the Cumberlege Report (Department of Health and Social Security 1986), which initiated the call for nurse prescribing and recommended that community nurses should be able to prescribe from a limited list, or formulary. Progress was somewhat measured, but The Crown Report of 1989 (Department of Health (DH) 1989) considered the implications of nurse prescribing and recommended suitably qualified registered nurses (district nurses (DN) or health visitors (HV)) should be authorised to prescribe from a limited list, namely, the nurse prescribers’formulary (NPF). Although a case for nurse prescribing had been established, progress relied on legislative changes to permit nurses to prescribe.

Progress continued to be cautious with the decision made to pilot nurse prescribing in eight demonstration sites in eight NHS regions. In 1999, The Crown Report II (DH 1999) reviewed more widely the prescribing, supply and administration of medicines and, in recognition of the success of the nurse prescribing pilots, recommended that prescribing rights be extended to include other groups of nurses and health professionals. By 2001, DNs and HVs had completed education programmes through which they gained V100 prescribing status, enabling them to prescribe from the NPF. The progress being made in prescribing reflected the reforms highlighted in The NHS Plan (DH 2000), which called for changes in the delivery of healthcare throughout the NHS, with nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals being among those professionals vital to its success.

The publication of Investment and Reform for NHS Staff –Taking Forward the NHS Plan (DH 2001) stated clearly that working in new ways was essential to the successful delivery of the changes. One of these new ways of working was to give specified health professionals the authority to prescribe, building on the original proposals of The Crown Report (DH 1999). Indeed, The NHS Plan (DH 2000) endorsed this recommendation and envisaged that, by 2004, most nurses should be able to prescribe medicines (either independently or supplementary) or supply medicines under patient group directions (PGDs) (DH 2004). After consultation in 2000, on the potential to extend nurse prescribing, changes were made to the Health and Social Care Act 2001.

The then Health Minister, Lord Philip Hunt, provided detail when he announced that nurse prescribing was to include further groups of nurses. He also detailed that the NPF was to be extended to enable independent nurse prescribers to prescribe all general sales list and pharmacy medicines prescribable by doctors under the NHS. This was together with a list of prescription-only medicines (POMs) for specified medical conditions within the areas of minor illness, minor injury, health promotion and palliative care. In November 2002, proposals were announced by Lord Hunt, concerning ‘supplementary’prescribing (DH 2002).

The proposals were to enable nurses and pharmacists to prescribe for chronic illness management using clinical management plans. The success of these developments prompted further regulation changes, enabling specified allied health professionals to train and qualify as supplementary prescribers (DH 2005). From May 2006, the nurse prescribers’extended formulary was discontinued, and qualified nurse independent prescribers (formerly known as extended formulary nurse prescribers) were able to prescribe any licensed medicine for any medical condition within their competence, including some controlled drugs.

Further legislative changes allowed pharmacists to train as independent prescribers (DH 2006) with optometrists gaining independent prescribing rights in 2007. The momentum of non-medical prescribing continued, with 2009 seeing a scoping project of allied health professional prescribing, recommending the extension of prescribing to other professional groups within the allied health professions and the introduction of independent prescribing for existing allied health professional supplementary prescribing groups, particularly physiotherapists and podiatrists (DH 2009).

In 2013, legislative changes enabled independent prescribing for physiotherapists and podiatrists. As the benefits of non-medical prescribing are demonstrated in the everyday practice of different professional groups, the potential to expand this continues, with consultation currently under way to consider the potential for enabling other disciplines to prescribe.

Why mental health problems will never go away

Many people will experience mental health difficulties at some point in their lives. As people go through life the demands on them increase, and over a prolonged period these can cause difficulty and ill health. These problems can manifest themselves both in mental and physical ways.

What kind of demands do people experience? One of these can be work-related. People may experience  stresses of looking for work, having to work in jobs which do not test their skills, or be involved in occupations  which require skills that are seemingly difficult to develop. Another common theme with adults that causes stress is having to work in a job which increasingly demands more of them, but does not remunerate them accordingly. In other words, they have to work more for less, and have to accept the gradual lowering of work conditions, but are unable to change jobs because they have already invested so much in it in terms of working years, but cannot leave and start afresh because the demands of a mortgage to pay off and a young family to provide for means they cannot start on a lower rung in a new occupation. Over a prolonged period, this can cause severe unhappiness.

Is it surprising that suicide affects men in their thirties and forties? This is a period for a man where work demands more, the mortgage needs paying, and the family demands more of his time and energy. It is unsurprising that having spent long periods in this sort of daily struggle, that men develop mental health problems which lead some to attempt suicide. But mental health does not just affect men. Among some of the this some women have to deal with are the struggles of bringing up children, the work life balance, the unfulfilled feel of not utilising their skills, and feeling isolated.

One of the ways ill health develops mentally is when people spend too long being pushed too hard for too long. Put under these kind of demands, the body shuts down as a self preservation measure. But the demands on the person don’t just go away. You may want a break from work. But this may not be possible or practical. In fact, the lack of an escape when you are aware you need one may be a greater trigger of mental illness, because it increases the feeling of being trapped.

It is little wonder that when people go through periods of mental ill health, an enforced period of short-term rest will allow them to reset their bearings to be able to continue at work, or return to work with some level of appropriate support. But this is only temporary.

With mental ill health problems, lifestyle adjustments need to be made for sufficient recovery.

Under the Equality Act (2010), your employer has a legal duty to make “reasonable adjustments” to your work.

Mental ill health sufferers could ask about working flexibly, job sharing, or a quiet room, a government report suggests.

The practicality of this however means more cost to the employer in having to make adjustments to accommodate the employee, and unless the employee is a valued one, whom the employer would like to keep, often the case is that they will be gradually phased out of the organisation.

In fact, when an employee attains a certain level of experience within an organisation, employers often ask more of them because they know these employees are locked in to their jobs, and have to accept these grudgingly, or risk losing their jobs, which they cannot do if they have dependents and financial commitments.
And you know the irony of it? The mental ill health sufferer already knows that. Which is why they don’t speak out for help in the first place.

If these employees complain, employers simply replace them with younger employees, who cost less, and who are willing to take on more responsibilities just to have a job. Any responsibilities the redundant employee had simply get divided up between his leftover colleagues, who are in turn asked to take on more responsibilities. They are next in line in the mental health illness queue.

And what if you are self employed? And have to work to support yourself and your dependents? The demands of the day to day are huge and don’t seem to go away.

You can see why mental health is  perceived a ticking time bomb. Organisations are not going to change to accommodate their employees because of cost, but keep pressing them to increase productivity without pay, knowing that they cannot say no, and when all the life and juice has been squeezed out of them, they can be chucked away and replaced with the next dispensable employee.

A ticking time bomb.

The financial considerations of investing in medicine and medical research

BBC News reports that a drug that would reduce the risk of HIV infection would result in cost savings of over £1bn over 80 years. Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or Prep, would reduce infection and hence lower the treatment costs for patients in the long term.

The catch? There is one. It’s the long term.

The cost of the treatment and prevention is such that its provision for the first twenty years – bundling together the cost of medical research and production of medicine – would result in a financial loss, and parity would only be achieved after a period of about thirty to forty years; this period is hard to define because it is dependent on what the drug would cost in the future.

Prep combines two anti-HIV drugs, emtricitabine and tenofovir. The medical trials behind it have concluded it has an effective rate of over one in five when it comes to protecting men who have unprotected sex with men from HIV infection. The exact figure is close to 86%.

Prep can be used either on a daily basis, or on what has been termed a sexual event basis – using it for two days before, during and after periods of unprotected sex.

The research model analysed the potential impact of Prep and found that it could reduce infection rates by over a quarter. The cost of the treatment itself, comparative to the cost of treating infection, would result in a saving over one billion pounds over eight years.

However, it does raise a few ethical questions. If the National Health Service is aiming to be a sustainable one – and one of the aims of sustainability is to empower citizens to take responsibility for their own health –  shouldn’t it be considering less about how it will balance the books, but spend more on education for prevention in the first place? The cost of producing Prep on the NHS would be £19.6 billion over 80 years; while the estimated savings from treatment would be £20.6 billion over the same period. Educating people not to have unprotected sex with those at the risk of HIV arguably would result in a higher saving over a lower time period. Perhaps the NHS should consider ways of reducing cost more significantly, rather than latching on to a cheaper prevention drug immediately. If consumer behaviour is not going to change, symptoms are still going to surface, and the provision of Prep on the NHS may only encourage less self-regulation and awareness.

Why Asians are more prone to Type 2 diabetes than Westerners

Thirty-four year-old Alan Phua is what you might describe as a typical male Chinese man. He exercises for three to five times a week in a country that places a high emphasis on healthy lifestyles. He also carefully observes what he eats and is strict about his diet.

Alan lives in Singapore. In addition to military service for the duration of two and a half years when they turn eighteen, citizens have annual reservist training for two weeks until they turn forty. Failing to meet targets for physical exercises such as chin ups, standing broad jumps, sit ups, shuttle runs and a 1.5 mile run means remedial physical training every few months until these standards are meet. But not all is negative though. Meeting or exceeding these targets is rewarded by financial incentives. In other words, living in Singapore as a male means there is a strong push to keep fit and maintain it.

The reasons for this are very clear. Singapore is a small country surrounded by two large neighbours in Malaysia and Indonesia. Its population of five million citizens means that like Israel, it has to rely on a citizen reservist force should the threat of war ever loom. While most of the citizens there seem of the mindset that military war would never break out, as the country is so small that any military action would damage the infrastructure and paralyse it; furthermore, the military is only a deterrent force, the readiness to military action gives leverage in negotiations between nation. For example, if the countries disagree over the supply of water that Malaysia gives Singapore to refine, and the discussions escalate towards a military standoff, having a reservist army puts the country in a better negotiating position. But while many may claim that a war is hypothetical, there is a simpler reason for maintaining fitness. A fitter population means less stress on the healthcare system. Singapore is the sustainable healthcare system that many countries are seeking to adopt.

Like many others in Singapore, Alan’s body does not produce enough insulin. This, as a result, causes the accumulation of sugar in the bloodstream. The lack of insulin leads to other health issues, such as general fatigue, infections, or other effects such as the failure of wounds to heal. However, all is not lost. Eating properly and having a good level of exercise can prevent the blood glucose level from rising and developing into diabetes.

Local researchers from the country’s National University Hospital (NUH), working together with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, have discovered that the reason why Asians are moresusceptible than Westerners to developing Type 2 diabetes is the inability of their bodies to produce high enough levels of insulin.

Even though the finding was based only on a small sample size of 140 mostly Chinese participants, the data, if expanded and refined, will point the way and help patients with diabetes to manage it better; not just for local patients but also within the region. Doctors believe that better dietary advice and a better selection of drugs would help patients to treat diabetes. The preliminary findings are part of the country’s largest diabetes study launched last year. The five-year ongoing study has recruited around 1,300 participants, and aims to eventually nearly double that.

The researchers did however notice the ethnicity of the results was fairly restricted and more participants from a wider racial profile will be needed for the results to be applied to the general population.

Currently, the statistics show that one in three Singaporeans has a risk of developing diabetes. Currently, one out of every fourteen Singaporeans are diabetic. Type 2 diabetes comes about because insufficient insulin is produced by the pancreas, or because the body has insulin resistance.

A previous study that 8 per cent of Chinese people with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 23 have diabetes. A BMI of 23 is within the normal weight range for Caucasians, and the rate of diabetes development within Chinese people is four times more than their European counterparts. The researchers claimed that it highlighted the importance of avoiding too much high-glucose food such as those rich in simple carbohydrates which include white rice and sugar.

The findings could also lay the foundation for efforts to test whether therapies that target insulin secretion and the ability to make more insulin could be more effective in the local population, and lead to customised diabetes treatment.

What bearing does this have on us, and what action can we take? A good start would be to avoid eating high glucose food such as rice too often and managing our diet. Also try adopting a more active lifestyle!

Are we nearing a medical cure for Parkinson’s disease?

Are we edging towards a cure for Parkinson’s disease? A study in the medical journal Lancet suggests that while we may still be a bit away from a total cure from the disease, there is enough evidence to suggest that it may soon be possible to halt its progression, which is the next step towards managing or eliminating a disease that causes damage to the brain, tremors, difficulty with movements and eventually memory problems.

Parkinson’s disease is caused by the loss of cells which produce the chemical dopamine. The decline to the brain is slow but eventually the accumulated damage causes mental and physical problems. There is no cure for it but current therapies can help to contain the damage and manage the symptoms. They work by boosting dopamine levels, but only manage the symptoms without addressing the damage to the brain.

The Lancet reports that there is evidence now to suggest the progression of Parkinson’s can be delayed. The damage to the brain can be restricted so that no further damage is done. This means that Parkinson’s sufferers retain their mental capacities at the point of diagnosis. This is promising news and the answer lies with a drug normally used in type 2 diabetes.

The trial in the research published in the Lancet was only conducted on 62 patients, so while the evidence is promising and optimistic, further evaluation and studies need to be carried out in order to confirm the findings and the news should be received cautiously. The long-term benefits or side effects are also not completely certain yet. The drug will need more testing; it is easy to be carried away with initial findings but all medication has side effects, either on mental states or physical well-being that we should be mindful of.

The study was conducted by a team from University College London (UCL) team. “There’s absolutely no doubt the most important unmet need in Parkinson’s is a drug to slow down disease progression, it’s unarguable,” Prof Tom Foltynie, one of the researchers, told the BBC.

Currently, there is no drug which achieves that effect. The drugs that are currently prescribed only manage the symptoms, but do not address damage to the brain.

The study divided the 62 patients into two groups. One group received the drug exenatide, which is normally used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Another group was given a placebo. Patients were unaware of which treatment they were receiving. For precautionary reasons, all patients also continued to remain on their usual medication.

The 31 patients who received only their usual medication showed symptoms of decline usually associated with Parkinson’s disease. This decline manifested itself both in mental states such as forgetfulness and memory loss, or through the loss of locomotor movement. The results were apparent over a period of 48 weeks.

Patients for whom exenatide was prescribed displayed stability in their results. In other words, their decline due to Parkinson’s was halted. Not only was the further damage to the brain restricted, the loss of physical movement was contained. This suggested that exenatide could have some role in the damage limitation of Parkinson’s disease.

The initial study took place over a year and after that those on exenatide came off the treatment. Yet the benefits of taking the drug continued for up to three months.

 

Prof Foltynie said, “It gives us confidence exenatide is not just masking symptoms, it’s doing something to the underlying disease.”

Nevertheless, he urged, while we have reason to be encouraged by these positive findings, they still need to be replicated on a larger scale, and the drug also needs to be trialled for a much longer period before any suitable effect and link can be stated.

Another reason to be cautious is that the drug exenatide only made a difference over a maximum trial period of sixty weeks. But in real life Parkinson’s disease afflicts individuals over a prolonged period. The introduction of any new drug into the human body usually causes a noticeable effect at the onset anyway, as the body is flooded by chemicals, but the effect needs to be maintained for prolonged periods without losing consistency. In this particular, case, for a drug to be effective against Parkinson’s disease, it will need to hold back the damage to the brain for years in order that patients who are prescribed the drug would experience a significant improvement on the quality of life.

The effect of Parkinson’s disease is slo. Sufferers experience damage to the brain and slow decline on mind and body over years, sometimes extending up to a decade. The team from University College London said that their research in this 60-week trial produced statistical improvements in quality of life scores, but they will need to extend the benefit over a longer period.

Exenatide’s traditional role as part of a diabetes treatment is in controlling the blood sugar levels in the body. It does this through the action on a hormone sensor known as GLP-1. It is believed that Exenatide makes the hormone sensors work more efficiently or perhaps it improves their ability to survive.

But the GLP-1 sensors are not just found in the body. They are also in existence in brain cells. Those sensors are also present in brain cells too. The current thinking behind using Exenatide in some form as a Parkinson’s disease treatment is that if it can make hormone sensors in the body more efficient, so that they manage blood sugar levels better, then they may have a significant role if used to improve the sensors in brain cells.

It is specifically for this reason that the research of the drug is also being widened beyond its effect on Parkinson’s disease, but also in other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

David Dexter, the deputy director of research at Parkinson’s UK indicated that there was hope offered through the finding that drugs like exenatide, or perhaps similar ones, could slow the course of Parkinson’s that we currently take for granted. They offer some posibilities that other drugs do not.

“Because Parkinson’s can progress quite gradually, this study was probably too small and short to tell us whether exenatide can halt the progression of the condition, but it’s certainly encouraging and warrants further investigation.”

But amidst all the optimism generated by the possible positive effects on exenatide, Dr Brian Fiske, from the The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, cautioned that “the exenatide studies justify continued testing” but that clinicians and patients should not rush to “add exenatide to their regimens” until the impact and safety of exenatide had been proven.

How does Parkinson’s disease gradually lead to the decline of physical movements and memory loss? The disease affects the brain by a slow process of decline and brings on debilitating loss of movement. It has since been discovered that the damage to the brain is also synonymous with accumulation of high levels of the protein alpha-synuclein in the brain.

Scientists at Columbia University Medical Center and the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology found that T-cells, a part of your immune system, tries to destroy the alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s disease sufferers, but it is through the killing of alpha-synuclein as an auto-immunity measure that the T-cells inadvertently kills brain cells where the alpha-synuclein accumulates. In other words, a malfunctioning immune system is destroying brain cells, which then have a knock-on impact on the brain’s health and physical functions.

In recent years scientists have made significant progress in their understanding of Parkinson’s disease. One emerging possibility that is gradually gaining ground in that Parkinson’s may have its origins in the gut.

“We imagine that T-cells may first identify alpha-synuclein out in periphery, particularly in the nervous system of gut which is not a problem until the T-cells enter the brain.”

Dr Alessandro Sette, from La Jolla, said: “Our findings raise the possibility that an immunotherapy approach could be used to increase the immune system’s tolerance for alpha-synuclein, which could help to ameliorate or prevent worsening symptoms in Parkinson’s disease patients.”

David Dexter also said that the research lent weight to the idea that “the condition may involve the immune system becoming confused and damaging our own cells.

He stressed however that more needed to be done in order for us to have some understanding about how, in the complicated chain of events that lead or contribute to Parkinson’s, the immune system – or a faulty immune one – played its part in the overall grand scheme of things.

Nevertheless, he added that the new research presented new avenues and opened up new insights into current Parkinson’s treatments. He was optimistic, perhaps cautiously so, that “this presents an exciting new avenue to explore to help develop new treatments that may be able to slow or stop the condition in its tracks.”

Is a medical cure for Parkinson’s disease on the horizon then? Perhaps in fifteen or twenty years’ time, we will look back upon these discoveries – that exenatide halts the decline of the brain by improving the proficiency of GLP-1 hormone sensors in the brain; that Parkinson’s disease originates in the gut; that managing the tolerance for alpha-synuclein by T-cells in the brain prevents them from destroying brain cells which lead to impaired mental and physical function – perhaps in the future we will look upon them as defining moments in the cure of Parkinson’s disease.

So could we expect medical prescriptions for Parkinson’s disease soon? At the earliest, a medical prescription for Parkinson’s will take at least ten to fifteen years to be made available. Pharmaceutical companies are normally granted a patent of twenty years to be the sole distributor of a medical product, in order to reward the impetus and the research undertaken into the product. At least half the amount of time is spent on research and further clinical trials. Most pharmaceutical companies apply for their patent from the time detailed research begins, so that the event that having done a significant part of their research, another company is awarded the patent, is avoided. So the moment a patent is awarded, in this case, for exenatide or a derivative product to tackle Parkinson’s disease – that is a sign we could expect a cure in about ten to fifteen years.

Is it possible too that there might be a non-medical cure for the disease? The BBC reported that more and more elderly people are taking up piano lessons to combat the onset of Parkinsons (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04p50gg). Bearing that most cases of Parkinson’s are not hereditary, and that developing the skill of piano playing is not hereditary either, and depends on the effort of the individual himself, is it possible to build up a non-medical prevention for Parkinson’s? Only time will tell.

Wort on earth: St John’s wort and its use as an anti-depressant

St John’s wort, also known as Hypericum perforatum, has for years been used as a treatment for nerves. Its use dates back to over hundreds of years. In medieval times, its reputation as a remedy for wounds, as well as sores, burns, bruises and nerve pains, gave it its popularity. Evil spirits were also thought to be repelled by it, and the insane would often drink an infusion of St John’s wort in an attempt to ward off madness. In modern times, St John’s wort has been used to manage seasonal affective disorder (SAD), improve sleep quality and improve mood.

St John’s wort is a tall wild plant and the flowers are yellow. It is often found growing wild in many parts of the world including Europe, Asia and the US, and is named after St John the Baptist as the traditional collection day was on St John’s Day, June 24th.

It is sometimes used by people with mild to moderate depression as an alternative to anti-depressants. It is in this group that scientists believe the best effects of St John’s wort are best demonstrated. We have seen in earlier posts that less severe depression, where sufferers are not in immediate danger, may not require anti-depressants or other medication and if they are not necessary, it is best not to use them as they can lead to addiction or have other side effects.

St John’s wort has been one of the most well-researched herbal medications. While the results of its use are not necessarily consistent, studies have demonstrated that if it is taken in the right form and with the correct dosage, it can have effective results on sufferers with mild to moderate depression. Scientists believe that it works in a similar way to SSRI drugs. SSRI (“selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor”) drugs lift the levels of certain brain chemicals, such as serotonin, dopamine and noradrenalin, and in doing so make the user feel more positive. Drugs such as Prozac have the same effect. For mild to moderate depression sufferers this sort of herbal treatment is usually enough.

While St John’s wort is available as a traditional medicine, it is classed under “herbal” alternatives which are not necessarily regulated by law. This means that different variants are available, all with different consistencies. If you are considering this as a non-medical alternative, and are slightly puzzled by the variants on offer, it is best to start off with one that has been certified as a Traditional Herbal Remedy, or THR. The symbol for this is a leaf in a black square on the label, and is a useful starting point in guaranteeing the safety and purity of the product.
Effective products will contain a concentration of the active ingredient, hypericin, of about 0.3%. And a good guideline is a product that has a dose of around 300 – 900 mg of hypericin. Start with the median dosage of around 600mg and then adjust it according to how you feel.

It must be emphasised that the usage of St John’s wort has to be considered with the same caution of any prescription SSRI anti-depressants that it is meant to substitute. This means you should use it carefully, and not think that just because it is a natural herbal remedy, taking it – either within the guidelines or above the recommended threshold – will not do you any harm. The use of St John’s wort can cause interference with other drugs and lead to complications. St John’s wort may interfere with statins, blood thinners and also things like oral contraceptives like the pill. Possible side effects could also include nausea, skin allergies and hypersensitivity to sunlight. St John’s wort should also not be taken with drugs prescribed for depression, as that would result in an overdose of hypericin. If you are considering using it as a herbal substitute to reduce mild or moderate depression, it would be a good idea to check with your GP, or consult any other medical practictioner so you have some idea of the associated risks.

St John’s wort, in Germany, is classed as a prescription drug but outside of Germany, it can be readily bought at pharmacists without the need for a prescription. Is it more advantageous to the average person that it is classed as a herbal remedy?

On the face of it, yes – being classed as a herbal remedy means that depression sufferers may try it first before going to their GP. If the remedy works for them, this means that they are more likely to avoid addiction to anti-depressants, and the side effects of the latter. They are also more likely to avoid requiring long-term medication due to the build-up of anti-depressant resistance. Furthermore, users of St John’s wort need not visit their GP to obtain a prescription, so there is a time saving for the GPs and more appointments can be made available.

However, one may argue that its listing as an alternative health herbal remedy only complicates matters. St John’s wort is found in the form of tablets, teas and tincture. Herbal remedies, like vitamins, cannot make the claim that they can cure a certain illness, but manufacturers can claim they are good for certain purposes. Therefore, St John’s wort can be said to “be good for mild depression”, but not cure it. But this is not the only disclaimer found in the text in St John’s wort products. In trying to absolve itself of litigious claims, it is not uncommon to see on the labelling that St John’s wort should not be taken if:

  • you are under 18 years of age
  • you are pregnant or breastfeeding
  • you are allergic to any of the ingredients
  • you are lactose intolerant
  • your skin is exceptionally sensitive to sunlight (photosensitive)
  • you are having light treatment (phototherapy) for any condition
  • you are suffering from depression

The printed label may also advise you that it may also interfere with medicines such as:

  • fentanyl, propofol, sevoflurane, and midazolam (anaesthetics/pre-operative medicines)
  • tramadol (an analgesic)
  • erythromycin, clarithromycin and telithromycin (antibiotics)
  • itraconazole and voriconazole (antifungals)
  • artemether and lumefantrine (antimalarials)
  • rasagiline (an anti-Parkinson’s medicine)
  • aripiprazole (an antipsychotic medicine)
  • buspirone (an anxiolytic)
  • aprepitant (used to treat post-operative vomiting)
  • butobarbital and phenobarbital (barbiturates)
  • methyl phenidate (a central nervous system or CNS stimulant)
  • exemestane (a hormone antagonist)
  • eplerenone (a diuretic)
  • lansoprazole and omeprazole (proton pump inhibitors)
  • theophylline (a bronchodilator)
  • gliclazide (an antidiabetic medicine)

A longer, more detailed list may advise that St John’s wort should not be used for:

  • All medicines for depression/anxiety – Amitriptyline, clomipramine, moclobemide, citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, sertraline, duloxetine, venlafaxine
  • All hormonal replacement therapy treatments – HRT tablets, patches and gels
  • All medicines for thinning the blood (anticoagulants) – Warfarin, acenocoumarol
  • All medicines for epilepsy – Carbamazepine, phenobarbitone, phenytoin, primidone, sodium valproate
  • All immunosuppressant medicines – Ciclosporin, tacrolimus
  • All medicines for HIV infections – Amprenavir, atazanavir, darunavir, fosamprenavir, indinavir, lopinavir, nelfinavir, ritonavir, saquinavir, tipranavir, efavirenz, nevirapine, delavirdine
  • Cholesterol medicines such as Simvastatin, atorvastatin
  • Cancer medicines such as Irinotecan, dasatinib, erlotinib, imatinib, sorafenib, sunitinib, etoposide, mitotane
  • Heart disease medicines- Digoxin, ivabradine, amiodarone
  • Migraine treatments – Almotriptan, eletriptan, frovatriptan, naratriptan, rizatriptan, sumatriptan, zolmitriptan
  • High blood pressure treatments – Amlodipine, nifedipine, felodipine, verapamil
  • A medicine for regulating mood – Lithium
  • A thyroid hormone – Thyroxine

The list of precautions and possible medication conflict is so long, that one may find sufferers who are actually already on medication may decide against switching or downgrading to St John’s wort.

The dosing and safety of St John’s Wort has – in addition – not been studied in children/ adolescents below 18 years and hence the safety of use is not established.