St John's Wort as good as Prozac

St John's Wort - the herb of happiness is as good as Prozac so say Scientists.

The study's lead author, Dr Klaus Linde, from the Centre for Complementary Medicine in Munich looked at 29 studies and 5,489 patients with mild to moderately severe depression.

The amazing study has found that the herbal extract from St John’s wort is as effective as anti-depressants and has fewer side effects. The result could see more GP’s prescribing it. In Germany it is commonly given to children and teenagers.

No one knows how it works but some experts guess it probably keeps the chemical serotonin in the brain for longer.

But it seems that St John’s wort products sold in chemists and health food stores vary considerably and some are more effective than others. These results only apply to preparations that have been tested.

The findings were published by the Cochrane Library, which specialises in systematic reviews of research studies.