Ineffective alternative
Researchers find St. John’s Wort does not lessen ADHD symptoms
Nearly 4.5 million American children ages 4 to 17 suffer from attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Because not all these children respond to medications such as Ritalin or Adderall, some parents turn to herbal supplements to treat the symptoms associated with the neurobehavioral disorder.
But a new study, led by Wendy Weber, a physician specializing in naturopathic medicine and a professor at BastyrUniversity in Seattle, is one of the first to rigorously test one of these herb-based medicines. Weber’s team reports that children suffering symptoms of ADHD show no improvement in attentiveness when treated with St. John’s Wort extract. The results appear in the June 11 Journal of the American Medical Association.
“There are a lot parents who have concerns about having their kids take stimulants such as Ritalin,” Weber says. “Reading the literature you can see why they are hesitant. Stimulants are strong medications, and parents at my practice hesitant to use them unless they have to.”