I
IF YOU’RE OF A CERTAIN AGE, you’ve no
doubt heard the term “snake-oil salesman.”
There was a time when these hucksters com-
mandeered a town square, urging all to gather
around while they extolled the benefi ts of
some “natural” remedy or other. There’s a
good reason you don’t see them much anymore
— they’ve moved to the Internet.
Consuming a proper balance of hypericum perforatum plant. Its ac-
vitamins and minerals is vital to your tive ingredient is a phytochemical
health, but evidence is mounting that called hyperforin, and it indeed can
many popular supplements simply be effective in some cases, notes Dr.
are ineffective, and some actually Bill Gurley, professor of pharmaceu-
can cause harm. Knowing what tical sciences at the University of Ar-
works and what doesn’t is vitally kansas for Medical Sciences.
important to maintaining a healthy “If you have a very high quality
mind and body. St. John’s wort with a signifi cant
You might think a remedy amount of hyperforin — at least 10
straight from nature would be milligrams — it does appear to have
harmless by defi nition — and many some substantial antidepressant
are. But some, especially when effects,” he notes. The downside,
combined with prescription medi- Gurley explains, is the tendency of
cations or even other supplements, the herb to render other medications
can have unintended and poten- less effective, which can wreak havoc
tially dangerous side effects. on a patient’s course of treatment.
Gurley fi rst noticed the problem
Plants as drugs a few years ago when several kid-
St. John’s wort is a prime example. ney patients in his transplant center
Often touted as a treatment for de- began having rejection problems and
pression, the herbal remedy is ex- eventually lost their transplants. A
tracted from the fl owers of the subsequent investigation found they
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