EiR Blog

A study conducted at the Mayo Clinic and published this week in the January issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology has found that the popular antidepressant herbal supplement St. John's wort is unhelpful for those suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In a press release the lead researcher on the study, Yuri Saito, M.D., M.P.H., said that "Several of the chemical neurotransmitters that are in the brain are also in the colon. Therefore, it's been thought that antidepressants may affect sensation in the colon in a similar way to how they affect sensation in the brain. Our goal was to evaluate the usefulness of St John's wort in treating IBS." In discussing the outcome of the study Saito said "Because people tend to struggle with IBS for several years, patients are really looking for inexpensive, over-the-counter treatments such as St. John's wort. Unfortunately, our study showed that St. John's...