This trial will set a better standard for figuring out how to study complementary and alternative practices, because we’ve picked patients carefully, and we’ve used rigorous end points. In this study, we’ve used the Hamilton Depression Scale as the primary end point and the change in that, and as a second end point, the rate of complete response, total amelioration of all depressive features in the clinical global impression scale and the HAM-D scale. This is the way you study anti-depressants.

Note: See Hypericum Depression Trial Study Group. Effect of Hypericum perforatum (St. John's wort) in major depressive disorder: a randomized, controlled trial. JAMA, 2002; 287:1807-1814. Full-text of the article is available on the JAMA website at www.jama.com. In short, this NIH-funded study shows that an extract of the herb St. John's wort was no more effective for treating major depression of moderate severity than placebo.