> Holistic Healing > Herbal Remedies > S-Z > St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum)

The passion in Stefan Doll�s voice, during our hour-long telephone interview, is especially evident when he talks about his St John�s wort oil, winner of two Alive awards for excellence. Doll, a natural health advocate and campaigner for more than thirty years, relates how his oil extract consists of manually harvested mature golden flowers. �This isn�t just my product,� he enthuses, �it�s my life�s work.�

Doll�s voice exudes pride as he details the ages-old process in which the flowers are submersed in virgin olive oil and cold-pressed from freshly picked organic olives. The mixture is sealed in glass jars and then basks for weeks in the summer warmth. Doll recounts that people have safely used St John�s wort for hundreds of years and for a wide variety of purposes, including the treatment of wounds and burns.

The tone of his voice becomes serious as we discuss the mainstream media outlets and their narrow focus that St John�s wort is ineffective in dealing with serious depression. �And now,� he says, �St John�s wort is being drilled into the ground because of all of the negative media coverage. No one ever said the herb was good for treating heavy depression."

Although there is major disagreement about the results of recent studies, the negative press, Doll feels, has tarred all St John�s wort products, including his oil, with the same brush. Particularly galling to Doll is the fact that his oil contains hyperforin (an extract of the flowers) and not hypercerin, the ingredient that research studies, the pharmacy industry, and media have been targeting.

A consequence of hysterical and often inaccurate reporting is that producers of many natural health products are seeing declining sales. This not only affects their business enterprises, Doll notes, but also impacts the efforts of these producers, whom he says, �are trying to introduce good things onto our planet.�

The American Botanical Council confirms Doll�s observations and reports that 2002 herb sales in the US fell 13.9 per cent from the previous year, extending the downward trend to its fourth consecutive year. Seven of the ten top-selling herbal supplements saw retail and unit sales decrease. Kava kava, a plant used for hundreds of years, saw sales drop almost 53 per cent due to the claims that high doses of the product could lead to liver toxicity. Several governments, including Australia, Canada, England, France, and Germany quickly reacted to the media reports and banned the product. Health Canada, in August 2002, issued a stop-sale and recall of all kava kava products based on four cases of liver toxicity in Canada, seventy cases worldwide, and three deaths in Germany.

Doll maintains the agency�s response is typical of government knee-jerk reaction towards natural health products and that standards and penalties foisted upon the herbal industry aren�t necessarily applied to the pharmaceutical industry. �What about the thousands of people who die from the side-effects of pharmaceutical drugs?� he implores. �Why aren�t these products banned?�

Dr Matthias Rath, a renowned natural medicine crusader echoes many of the sentiments held by Doll. On Rath�s Web site, it is reported that, �The known deadly side-effects of prescription drugs are the fourth leading cause of death in the industrialized world, surpassed only by the number of deaths from heart attacks, cancer, and strokes (Journal of the American Medical Association, April 15, 1998).� The journal reported that the numbers were estimated to be 106,000 people per year in the US alone.

Joe Skelton is a writer and editor with keen interest in the “big picture” issues that affect the natural health industry.

Source: alive #258, April 2004