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Karin: In response to your question about Skullcap and St. John's Wort, I found the following: *** Skullcap comes fro the plant Scutelaria lateriflora The major use of skullcap has been as a sedative for "nervousness." The Chinese use another variety of the plant, Scutellaria baikalensis, or Chinese skullcap, for "nervousness" and rhematism, among other disorders. Bioflavonoids have been isolated from Chinese skullcap: these have ant-inflammatory and anti-allergic effect. The beneftis attributed to skullcap are purely anecdotal. On the other hand, the herb itself is relatively safe...only "large" doses of a tincture of the herb have been reported to cause confusion, giddiness, stupor, twitching, and other neurologic symptoms. *** *** St. John's Wort leaped into the limelight in 1988 with the appearance of a report in the prestigous scientific journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." Researchers from the New York University Medical Center and The Weizmann Institute of Science reported that two substances from the herb, hypericin and pseudohypericin, dispayed anti-viral activity against some retroviruses. These substances were effective at amounts which have low toxicity...Hypericum has been used as a folk remedy for the treatment of depression, anxiety, mania, hypochondriasis, fatigue, hysteria and insomnia. There is documentation that extracts of the herb dohave anti-depressant effects. For example, a 1984 report in a leading German medical journal demonstrated significant improvement in depression, anxiety, and insomnia in nine people who received oral extracts of St. John's wort. Side effects did not occur. Further research of this issue is definitely warranted...Other substances foound in the herb include protein, fat, tannin, vitamin A and C, carotenoids, rutin, and pectin...Those who do experiment with this herb should stay out of the sunlight or use sunscreens with SPF (sun protective factor) of at least 15 if they are exposed to sunlight. *** I got these explanations from the "Doctor's Vitamin and Mineral Encyclopedia" by Sheldon Saul Hendler, MD, Ph.D. (a Fireside book published by Simon & Shuster, 1991) I hope the explanations help. Frankly, I'm more than a little intrigued with the St. John's wort. Retroviruses are implicated with AIDS and HIV. But more importantly to me personally, they're also the nasty little beasties that give us "colds". Next time I have a cold I think I will try the St. John's wort along with the usual chicken soup! ***** Llyn Gruber <[log in to unmask]> ***** **** Whatever you can do, or dream you can, **** ***** begin it--Johann W. von Goethe *****