From HeK@hetta.pp.fiSat May 27 11:00:08 1995 Date: Mon, 22 May 1995 20:23:24 -0100 From: Henriette Kress To: london@sunsite.unc.edu Subject: compressed hypericum thread hi, i've compressed it somewhat: ========== 2.4 St. John's Wort (Hypericum) and Photosensitivity ----- Here's the question (on the herblist (see 8.1 below) in November 1994): ----- As to Hypericum perforatum (St. John's Wort) causing photosensitivity in humans, I have been unable to find a single study that verifies this in vivo. Lots of research on the effects of hypericin on cattle and insects, but humans? This may be an example of assumptive jumping from mammalian lab results to humans. Anyone know a study that indicates photosensitivity in humans do to Hypericum? Cheers- Peggy ----- Here's the answer: ----- From Howie Brounstein: I don't know of any, Peggy. I have not heard of one case of human photosensitivity, even in the blond, blue-eyed, fair skinned ones, from standard dosages of tincture. Now I haven't asked any albinos doing truckloads of hypericum a day - maybe they'd have a problem. I've known a few folks who definitely did not like the feeling they got from St. John's Wort, but being slightly saner than the average bear, they stopped taking it. Perhaps they've shunned the sun if they continued. But albino cows definitely have a problem with St. John's Wort. And so the authorities that be in charge (of cows and bugs, anyway) in Northern California has waged a war against the poor St. John, hapless victim of human transport from Europe. By releasing bugs from afar, they strive to rid our pasture of this scourage from the old country. Alas, for I wonder - when there are only small populations left in the area, will St. John become a rare and protected plant?? I do know that some common psychiatric pharmaceuticals DO cause photosensitivity in humans... And when you hold the leaves of the hypericum perforatum the light of the sky you will see little holes, actually compartments (perforations), that trap and use the energy of the sun to run a biochemical factory, making hypericin, the red colored constituent assumed to be one of the active ones. Squueeezze that unopened flower bud - just a hint of yellow petals peaking so cautiously from its sepal safety - sqqqueeeezze and you will delight to find a drop of redness so strong as to dye the fingers. Now when I teach my students about this Wort, we general use flower buds and the stems and small leaves attached to them to prepare oils and tinctures. This appears to work just fine, producing extracts of wondrous redfulness. But those who wish for an herbal nectar of delight of greater strength, they sit for hours collecting just flower petals in some Zen like quest. Well, what good's an herbalist without patience :) ...Certainly they are rewarded with extract of unequalled value (not found in Cheapside). Now I'm not one to believe new herbal scientific data until I see the experiment reproduced by other researchers (especially if they have different sources of funding). Recently I saw an article (was it Medical Herbalism?) that stated two research teams at about the same time released results of this Wort being antiviral against enveloped virus that include herpes, etc. But of interest to me was the notion that sunlight increased the Wort's anti-viral effects - that sun again - somehow, in some mysterious way linked to this plant and it's effects. Without exposure to sunlight the herbs anti-viral effect dropped markedly. I don't have all that much experience with bipolar and other mental disorders and Hypericum, although I believe that consistent dosages long term is the way to go ...and careful with self medication. With many of these kinds of problems you may not be able to tell if it's working, especially since you started taking it and you feel great, I mean really good, as you swing up into a manic phase and over one edge or the other. Have someone who can help you gauge your illness objectively (ha) or at least tell you if you've fallen off the fence. It can be hard to tell from the inside. So ideally the Wort would take away the highs and lows and make the emotional rollercoaster of todays hectic society more even. As opposed to the muscle relaxing tranquilizing effects of Valerian, Skullcap, Pedicularis, and such. I don't know about clinical studies, but in my experience the Wort works for some and not others for simple depression and light rollercoaster rides that do not incapacitate the riders. And it even works as a muscle relaxant in some people. Not the "sure and steady" herb that works effectively for everyone (like that bitter Hore Hound that makes everyone gag ...I mean cough.) And this even tempered plant grows in disturbed places, roadsides, lots, loves it when its been bulldozed a year or so ago. A calming herb that grows all over disturbed areas ...hmmmmm. Perhaps one shouldn't focus on the oddities and quirks of nature and coincidence, but I think it's cool. The Wort Oil is good for skin irritations and such. I seen it help when the calendula, comfrey, penstemon and other herbs won't work. It also helps cuts and external physical injuries in general. But in my eyes it seems to have an affinity for the nerves, and it seems to be specific for injuries accompanied by nerve trauma, like I cut my arm and my finger goes numb. I wouldn't claim it reconnects severed nerves, but it will aid in healing them if traumatized. But don't be mislead by symptoms - put the oil on the arm injury, not the numb finger. Howie Brounstein C&W Herbs Eugene, Oregon ----- From Peggy to above: >But of interest to me was the notion that sunlight increased the Wort's >anti-viral effects... Without exposure to sunlight the herbs >anti-viral effect dropped markedly. Yes, and another really neat thing is that the hypericin (and its phototoxicity in predator insects) is activated, in the presence of oxygen, at the same wavelength that is given off by the Hypericum leaves in the sun. (540-610 nm). Some insects that ingest Hypericum have adapted by tying together leaves and feeding inside the ties, therefore protecting themselves from the effects of the hypericin.(Sandberg, SL, et al. "Leaf-tying by tortricid larvae as an adaptation for feeding on phototoxic Hypericum perforatum." JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ECOLOGY, 1989 15(3):875-886.) Cheers- Peggy ----- From Jonathan Treasure: Photoxicity of Hypericum in a small proportion of the (blonde) population has been clinically noted especially with topical application whether published or not. Here is an extract from a report from this years' Convention of Naturopathic Physicians in the US which adds some interesting information about the incidence of Phototoxicity in Puerto Rican AIDS sufferers begins One doctor at the conference who treats a lot of AIDS patients said she had seen frequent cases of phototoxocity in dark skinned Puerto Ricans, especially with higher doses and long term administration. AIDS patients started taking hypericum when is was found that the hypericin had an anti-HIV effect in mice. Use has persisted in spite of later discovery that it doesn't help HIV in humans. Most AIDS patients feel much better when taking hypericum, probably because of the antidepressant effect -- depression is probably the least often mentioned symptom of AIDS. Another doctor showed us her legs at the conference -- she had used a hypericum ultrasound gel to treat a sprained ankle. The ultrasound drives the contents of the gel directly into the tissues. She later worked in the direct sunlight, and soon had second degree burns, complete with blisters, whenever the sunlight fell on the gel-treated skin. Six weeks later we could still see the shadow on the back of the leg where the sunlight didn't fall, and the shadow of a sandal strap across the front of the ankle. There was scarring from the blisters. By the way, she said the only thing that would help the severe pain was aloe vera gel. end Jonathan (jtreasure@jonno.demon.co.uk) ----- From Peggy to above: Thank you for the reply. I suspected that incidents of phototox could be found somewhere, just couldn't come up with them. I understand that Hypericin's anti-viral activities (in vitro) are dependent on "light-dose" (wavelength and duration), drug-dosage, and the presence of oxygen. It makes sense, then that phototoxicity was found at the higher, long-term usages (in addition to other factors). Thank you, again. Cheers- Peggy ----- From Howie Brounstein to above: Still, I believe that the average user treating depression shouldn't shy away from trying this Wort. The chemical alternatives have their dangers, too, including photosensitivity. I'll avoid ultrasound/hypericum treatments. Howie ----- From Michael Moore: I have retailed and wholesaled herbs for 20 years and have taught and written about green stuff for 16 years (...and breathed and micturated for almost 54), and I have only run across 1 person to have shown signs of photosensitization from Hypericum. He was a student of mine in an 8-month program a few years ago. He was what my grandma used to call "Black Irish" (I guess as opposed to a Dirty-Blond Irish like myself) and had the semi-transparent skin and jet-black hair of people like Liam or Patrick Clancy. Since he suffered from some mild hereditary neuropeptide imbalances that showed up as a fairly classic long-cycle bipolarity, he was quite taken with the use of the fresh tincture of both Hypericum perf. and H. formosum which we gathered during a couple of field trips. As he related a year later, he took a fly-fishing vacation after the class, returning to a place in the San Juans of Colorado (8,500 feet) that the class had visited. He had been going through a depressive period ("Got Those OLD Relationship Blues...scooby do-WOP.........scooby- dooby...do-WOP!"), and was taking up to an ounce of the Hypericum tincture (1:2, fresh plant) a day...a truly excessive amount (it's an Irish thing, y'know?). He broke out in hives that lasted nearly a month. He casually announced that he had been taking a pharmaceutical anti-depressant for nearly a decade...I hadn't even noticed. I guess I am too likely to take people as they are without a second thought. I figure the photosensitivity resulted from A. Racial sensitivity B. High altitude C. VERY high dosage D. (he was a Pisces) --and especially-- E. Synergy with antidepressant meds (that he declined to identify) Several years later another man (a customer) had a lip herpes outbreak, possibly the result of playing tennis in the sunlight while using Hypericum to help some back pain. He had had sun reactions before, so it is hard to speculate further. He too was Black Irish. In both instances the herbs were taken internally and the media was a fresh tincture...appropriate, since the dry herb is nearly inert. The student was using high quantities along with medication and the customer showed little more than passing and perhaps serendipitous symptoms, and I have had GALLONS of my Hypericum tincture and oil go through my grubbies over a couple of decades (usually used by folks going through a stretch of somato-psychic flakiness and often manifesting a peculiar, if temporary, lack of judgement regarding emotions, dosages, and self-monitoring). I consider Hypericum to be safe...this is based on personally observing hundreds of people who have used quality Hypericum preparations (...mine). I would need a BIG study to convince me otherwise...or I would need to start getting negative feedback. This is not an idle statement. Like the Wandering Homeopath, travelling the world seeking provings (you mean you haven't heard THAT legend? Well, the way I hear it, old Dr. Kent had retired to practice in Montana and one day this Basque sheepherder came into his office...) I have always tried my best to keep track of potential side-effects of herbs. I use herbs constitutionally, and any synergy or contraindication I encounter helps me to understand the secondary effects of a remedy so I can try to fit herbs and people together more reliably. Secondary effects are my grist (am I mixing metaphors again??). I can't work on Susun Weed's precepts level, that the body takes what it needs from what you offer it, anymore than I can work with a phytopharmaceutical model that ignores the multi-systemic effects of a plant while focusing only on a specific band of pharmacokinetics...better even (they say) to refine (reduce) DOWN to single constituents so as to better exaggerate the band and diminish the "unwanted" whispers. Sort of like taking a lovely image and running it through Photoshop plugins until you only have some raggedy and stark black-and-white outlines that bear little resemblance to the source. As most herbs, only using Hypericum for its anti-anxiety effects is to ignore the subtle shades and colors it causes as it moves INTO, THROUGH and OUT of the body. This three-dimensional hologram of effects is what makes herbs superior to drugs... in a wholistic model...and makes drugs superior to herbs in a medical model. To view herbs primarily as safer "little sister" analogs to drug therapies developed FOR the medical model is to be blind to the greater value they have in vitalist wholism, and to avoid the greater task and difficulty (and even glory) we face trying to build (rebuild) models of health and disease derived from balance and imbalance. Michael hrbmoore@rt66.com ----- From Jonathan Treasure: Well... I just got 88 pages of bumpf from NAPRALERT on Hypericum and there isn't a single mention of phototoxicity - so it seems that apart from a couple of anecdotal cases its not an issue as Michael Peggy Howie et aial say ... just keep away from the ultra sound gel in the solarium. Further to the Wort being a lover of roadsides etc. Howie, it was widely distributed through Europe in Roman times by marching legionaries, who also used it soothe their sore feet. (another anecdote not in NAPRALERT) jonathan (jtreasure@jonno.demon.co.uk) ========== For the next version I'll make the lines 70 long, too, like everything else in the FAQ, but right now I'm busy thinking up a nice name for a directory at sunsite... HeK -- Henriette Kress HeK@hetta.pp.fi Helsinki, Finland.