U.S. health agency to study herbal depression cure

WASHINGTON (Reuter) Three U.S. health research agencies said on Thursday
they were launching a clinical trial to look at whether a popular herb, St.
John's wort, was useful against depression.

European studies have indicated the plant can be useful but no U.S.
studies have been done.

Three agencies of the U.S. National Institutes of Health the Office of
Alternative Medicine, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and
the Office of Dietary Supplements said they would test 336 people with
clinical depression.

Over eight weeks, a third would get St. John's wort, a third would get a
specific serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI the standard drug treatment
for depression) and a third would get a placebo containing nothing.

"The study will give us definitive answers about whether St. John's wort
works for clinical depression," Steven Hyman, director of the NIMH, said in
a statement.

St. John's wort, also known by its botanical name Hypericum, is often
prescribed for depression in Germany. A 1996 study in the British Medical
Journal indicated it had effects in cases of mild to moderate depression.