St John’s Wort on Drug Metabolism by Induction of Cytochrome P450
Wow!! What great news!! A natural product that speeds up hepatic detoxification!! Unfortunately, the medical community does not view this with the same enthusiasm. Remember that pharmaceutical drugs are considered toxins by the body and the liver moves quickly to help eliminate them from the body. St John’s Wort helps this process along. However, by speeding up this process the levels of other drugs may be reduced in the bloodstream, reducing their efficacy. Nothing to be alarmed about–just something to be aware of.
Incidentally, the article fails to mention that every other antidepressant on the market has similar effects on hepatic detoxification….
JAMA — Abstracts: Markowitz et al. 290 (11): 1500
