St. John's Wort
St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) is a member of the guttiferae family. St. John's Wort is a perennial flowering plant that has been traditionally used in folk medicine for thousands of years due to its anti-inflammatory, analgesic and sedative properties, particularly for wound healing and treatment of respiratory infections. In folk medicine and traditional systems of medicine, St. John's Wort has been used orally to treat anxiety, bedwetting, dyspepsia, excitability, exhaustion, fibrositis, gastritis, gout, hemorrhage, pulmonary complaints, rheumatism, sciatica, and swelling. It also has been used orally as anthelmintic, an antidiarrheal, and a diuretic. Various dosage forms of St. John's Wort have been used topically as an astringent and to treat injuries or conditions such as blisters, burns, cuts, hemorrhoids, inflammation, insect bites, itchiness, redness, sunburns, and wounds. St. John's wort has antispasmodic, anti-depressant, anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. The chemical species present in St. John's Wort include acilfloroglucinols: hyperforins and adhyperforins; Hypericum perforatum also contains naptodiantrones: hypericine and pseudohypericine. These compounds are responsible for the activity of the extracts in the treatment of wounds and scars, but these products are unstable when attempting to obtain them in pure form, and over time they decompose due to the effect of light and heat. Some of the main active constituents of St. John's wort are flavonoids, carophyllene, hypericin and pseudohypericin. In recent years, the plant has been scientifically scrutinized, and a number of its key chemical constituents have been identified. These include a volatile oil, a resin, a tannin, glycosides of stearic, palmic, and myric acids, and hypercin. St. John's wort has been used externally to treat wounds, muscle aches and burns, and, internally, for relieving psychogenic disturbances, including depressive states, sleep disorders, anxiety and/or nervous excitement, particularly those associated with menopause. An advantage of treatment of certain cases of depression with St. John's wort is that it is rarely accompanied by sexual dysfunction, as with many prescription antidepressants. St. John's Wort has the ability to reduce, eliminate, prevent or inhibit or disrupt/dissolve amyloid fibril or protein deposits, brain associated amyloid fibril deposits or brain associated amyloid protein deposits, as well as amyloid fibril formation and growth or age associated amyloid fibril formation and growth, brain associated amyloid fibril formation and growth, and interaction of amyloid protein with glycosarninoglycans or proteoglycans; St. John's Wort will therefore promote mental acuity, promote mental alertness, provide nutritional support for age or related cognitive or memory decline, promote cognitive well being, support brain function, improve cognitive ability, mental performance or memory, promote concentration and mental sharpness, improve mental vitality, promote greater mental clarity and alertness, improve short term memory, reduce or reverse age associated cognitive or memory decline, support normal brain function, enhance learning or memory; improve concentration, enhance mental performance, reduce mental decline, reduce likelihood of age related brain disorders, and maintain good brain health. Flowering tops of Hypericum perforatum contain a number of classes of structurally different substances that can act directly or indirectly on the central nervous system. St. John's Wort is known to contain active compounds such as hypericin, hyperforin, and dimeric flavones that exert antidepressive and anxiolytic activities on animals and humans. The mechanisms of action of these compounds are different and include for example anti-MAO action, action on serotonin release, and activity on benzodiazepine receptors. St. John's Wort further has the ability to reduce, eliminate, prevent, inhibit or disrupt/dissolve amyloid fibril or protein deposits, as well as amyloid fibril formation and growth, pancreas associated amyloid fibril formation and growth, and interaction of amyloid protein with glycosaminoglycans or with proteoglycans; it will therefore support healthy pancreatic function and promote pancreatic function by helping to promote normal insulin function. Today, St. John's Wort extract is widely available in Germany and other European countries as an herbal supplement, which is widely prescribed by doctors and health practitioners.
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