Often, herbs can be of benefit where health problems are concerned. St. John's Wort has been proven to be helpful in cases of depression. St. John's Wort has been used for depression in European herbal and conventional medical practices for centuries. Although very successful in Europe, many herbalists and herb users in the US haven't found it to be as beneficial. There may be a reason.

Many herbal remedies in Europe, and other parts of the world, are standardized: the amount of active ingredient is fixed at a certain percentage. Standardization makes prescribing how much is needed more easily regulated. In many types of herbal remedies, the active ingredients can vary because of soil conditions, water availability and other factors. This can cause the herbs to be much more or much less potent. Some people have excellent results with herbals, and others have none. A probable explanation is the potency of the herbal itself as opposed to its' effectiveness.

According to various estimates, up to 80% of the World population consider Herbal Remedies a part of an individual wellness regime. In the United States, the figure is about 30% with annual sales of Herbals approaching $4 Billion Dollars. Due the the increases in production Numbers of new prescription drugs and lack of funding by Government Regulating Agencies, many Herbal Remedies have gone under the radar so to speak, in terms of research and effectiveness. Compounded by the uses of Herbals in concert with conventional prescription medicines, many times unsupervised by a Physician, this can present a recipe for disaster.