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Question 75: I have a mild case of Tourettes and was wondering if there have been any studies done on herbal medices, such as St. Johns Wart, on the condition. D.L., USA.

Hello D.L.

Not that I've been able to find, although I know that at long last some very well funded and well designed studies are taking place in the US now to seriously look at the effectiveness of various herbal medices. One finding already 'out' pertains to St. John's Wort in particular: it was found to be as useful as sugar (read: no effectiveness) in treating depression. However, a number of serious and even dangerous drug interactions were warned of. For example, many herbal remedies "flush" your system clean -- this includes flushing other medications you are taking out of your system. This is bad enough if you are on other antidepressants or tic medications, for example, because you are robbed of their effectiveness. What is truly dangerous, however, is if these herbal remedies flush life-saving medications like blood thinners, AIDS drugs and/or immunosuppressants for organ transplants out of your system. You can also have too much of a good thing, and if you are taking both a medication AND a herbal remedy to boost serotonin, this could result in having too MUCH serotonin in your system (leading to nausea, restlessness, agitation -- even mania).

Hope this helps!

Dr. Dunc.

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