HEALTH UPDATE: herbal remedy as good as drug for depression

An extract of the herbal remedy St John's wort is as effective as a commonly prescribed drug for people suffering from moderate to severe depression, researchers said on Friday. They compared the extract called WS 5570, which is made by the German company Dr Willmar Schwabe Pharmaceuticals, and the antidepressant paroxetine sold by GlaxoSmithKline Plc under the brand name Paxil or Seroxat.
"In the treatment of moderate to severe major depression, hypericum extract WS 5570 is at least as effective as paroxetine and is better tolerated," Professor Armin Szegedi of the Charite-Universitatsmedizin, part of the University of Berlin, said in a report published online by the British Medical Journal.