News Health & Medicine

Ineffective alternative

Researchers find St. John’s Wort does not lessen ADHD symptoms

By Ashley Yeager

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.

NO FLOWER POWER Caption: For years parents whose children suffer the symptoms of ADHD have looked for effective treatments. Pharmaceutical drugs do not always work, so some parents turn to herbal remedies, such as St. John’s Wort. John Hayes

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.