New research suggests the plant Rhodiola rosea, or roseroot, could help treat major depressive symptoms.
A team of researchers conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled comparison trial of R. rosea extract versus the common depression treatment sertraline, The University of Pennsylvania reported.
About 70 percent of the over 19 million Americans suffering from depression do not fully respond to their primary therapy, and antidepressant drugs often come with numerous side effects and high costs. This new research could offer a promising alternative.
The study looked at 57 adults who exhibited two or more depressive symptoms for at least two weeks. The study subjects received 12 weeks of standardized R. rosea extract, sertraline, or a placebo. Improvements in depressive symptoms were monitored and measured with the Hamilton Depression Rating (HAM-D), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Clinical Global Impression (CGI).
The study showed the patients who took sertraline were somewhat more likely to report improvements in depressive symptoms by the end of the 12 week trial than the patients who took R. rosea extract, but the difference was not statistically significant. Patients who took R. rosea had 1.4 times the odds of improvement, and those on sertraline had 1.9 times the odds of improvement when compared with the placebo group. Patients of sertraline experienced double the side effects of the patients who took R. rosea extract (63 percent and 30 percent, respectively). These findings suggest R. rosea may be a better alternative for the treatment of mild to moderate depressive symptoms.
"These results are a bit preliminary but suggest that herbal therapy may have the potential to help patients with depression who cannot tolerate conventional antidepressants due to side effects," said Jun J. Mao, associate professor of Family Medicine, Community Health and Epidemiology. "Larger studies will be needed to fully evaluate the benefit and harm of R. rosea as compared to conventional antidepressants."
The findings were reported in a recent edition of the journal Phytomedicine.
