PLANT "as good as Prozac"

I took this from the Advertiser dated 9/10/08... interesting! Well in my world! hahaha...

"It has been a happy alternative for those reluctant to pop pills for depression. But the herbal extract St John's wort now has more than cheerful converts to testify to its mood-lifting powers. In what has been billed as the most thorough study of the plan, scientists found it was just effective as Prozac at treating depression. It also had fewer side effects than many standard drugs used to help those battling despair. Researchers from the Centre for Complementary Medicine in Munich compared the effects of St Jon's wort with placebos and a wide range of old and new antidepressants, including those from the new generation of SSRI drugs, such as Prozac. The findings could prompt more GPs to prescribe the extract. Experts do not know how the plant lifts depression, although most believe it probably keeps the chemical serontonin which is linked to positive moods, in the brain for longer."