St.John's Wort? Be Careful If You Use It
I once had a friend who believed in herbal supplements for everything (now I have a husband who does). I never really believed all the hype on any of that stuff, though I did take valerian to try to get sleep years ago -- and it speeded up my heart so much I thought I was having a heart attack! Never again. Now a study has found that St. John's Wort , one of the most commonly used and well-liked supplements, may cause dangerous interactions with commonly-prescribed prescriptions. The researchers reported that the herbal supplement can reduce the concentration of numerous drugs in the body, including oral contraceptive, blood thinners, cancer chemotherapy and blood pressure medications, resulting in impaired effectiveness and treatment failure. “Patients may have a false sense of safety with so-called ‘natural’ treatments like St. John’s wort,” newswise.com quotes Sarah Taylor, M.D., assistant professor of dermatology at Wake Forest Baptist and lead author of the stu...