Anyone grow St. John's wort?
novice_2009
14 years ago
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novice_2009
14 years agoRelated Discussions
want: walking onions, self-heal, st johns wort
Comments (5)Thanks for your replies! Chrizty I already have the shrubby wort, I'm trying to find the more commonly used medicinal st john's wort. But thank you! And woodsidetrader, thanks but I don't have anything from your want list. Anyone else?...See MoreSt John's Wort outperforms Paxil for moderate-severe depression
Comments (32)Wishing to say something that may help all to understand proper usage of St. John's Wort within the realm of our modern world with its medicines, I point you all to a helpful website that discusses the Cytochrome p450 pathways. These are metabolic enzyme pathways, mostly in the liver, that our bodies utilize to "tag" molecules for elimination by the kidneys and also sometimes cause slower clearance of other molecules. So we talk about inducers and inhibitors as well as metabolism. Some of these substances, whether drugs, herbs, or even foods, affect other substances that come into our bodies by making them stronger or weaker in effect. For example, if a drug like paclitaxel, which is metabolized in CYP3A4 pathway is taken with St. John's Wort, a CYP3A4 inducer, the metabolism is speeded up and the drug clears from the body faster, making it less effective in killing cancer cells. The "side effects" may seem weaker because the effect of the drug is weaker. On the other hand, a form of Ginseng with a high concentration of ginsenoside Rh2, may act as a CYP3A4 inhibitor, making the metabolism of the paclitaxel slower, increasing thereby the effect of the drug. This also could cause a more noticeable "side effect." This is shown in cell culture studies that combined paclitaxel with Rh2. There may be other reasons why the IC50 increased (a measure of effectiveness in killing cancer cells in culture), but this is one of them. While we do have good data available from our pharmacies about cytochrome p450 pathways, the practitioners do not always have time to look things up. Recently, at an all-night pharmacy, I asked about a prescription I was picking up for a family member. That family member was considering taking either SJW or an SSRI, so I wanted to know about the reaction with cytochrome p450 and the new drug. The answer I got was curteous, but what was actually done was for the pharmacist to hand me the notes from the drug company that come in the package that the pharmacist uses to fill our bottles. I hesitate to think that most people might not ask about it and others who do may not know what the drug company's paper says. Of course, I want to be fair with the pharmacy. It was late at night. Maybe they take more time during the day. The website referenced below even mentions grapefruit juice and its effect. So be careful out there in your morning juice selection if you take drugs. I hope that my post helps with out marshalling the opposing sides too much. We all need to try to educate ourselves about the herbs and drugs that we take. I look forward to the day when the drug companies list the potential negative effects that their drugs may have on the herbs that I take. But I won't lose sleep waiting. Richard Here is a link that might be useful: Cytochrome p450 site...See MoreHypericum (St. John's Wort) - dependable summer shrubs
Comments (6)I think early spring would be best, but after flowering would be second choice. We got a bunch of them donated for the GNPS sale and I had to whack them back hard. They responded well to that (Feb/Mar). The bark is very nice; this plant needs more exposure in the public. Maybe if I give bobbygil a small one he will upgrade my sandwich to a combo....See MoreSource for St.John's Wort Brigadoon
Comments (1)I have this PLANT. I HAVE COLLECTED SEEDS IF YOU ARE INTERESTED.maybe we can swap...See Morefatamorgana2121
14 years agoeibren
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12 years ago
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