| In the past, St. John’s Wort was commonly recommended for the relief of anxiety, depression, mania, fatigue, hysteria and insomnia. Recent media coverage has placed St. John’s Wort on the best selling list again due to its’ effective relief of anxiety, depression and unrest without the side effects that often accompany the use of prescriptive drugs. Although the main use of St. John’s Wort is in the relief of depression, it has several other interesting and useful actions. In a study published in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 1988, researchers from The New York University Medical Center and The Weizmann Institute of Science reported the discovery of two substances in St. John’s Wort, hypericin and pseudohypericin, that displayed anti-viral activity against some retroviruses, including the human immune deficiency virus (HIV). St. John’s Wort is also known to inhibit the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the most common form of TB, and some strains of resistant bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus, E. Coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
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