The popular herbal medicine St. John's Wort, commonly used in the treatment of depression, has been found to cause the same adverse reactions as prescription antidepressants in a new study conducted by the University of Adelaide in South Australia.
According to the research, published this month in the journal Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology, St. John's Wort can produce the same adverse reactions as fluoxetine, and serious side effects can occur when the two drugs are taken together.
University of Adelaide pharmacology Ph.D. student Claire Hoban warns that St John's Wort, like all herbal medicines, is a drug and can, therefore, cause serious side effects.
The study found that St John's Wort caused dangerous increases in body temperature and blood pressure.
"There is a common belief that because...