AIDS TREATMENT NEWS No. 064 - September 9, 1988
John S. James
Hypericum, considered moderately safe but not totally safe by herbalists, has long been used for other medicinal purposes, and various preparations are available in some health-food stores. But there are doubts whether they contain enough hypericin, the active ingredient, to be useful. And so far we do not have even anecdotal reports of human use for AIDS or HIV; no one has yet said that they think the herb did (or did not) help them, because no one has used it long enough. For these reasons, we do not think this potential treatment is ready for widespread use, until there is more experience with it.
A few people are trying different extracts at this time. Also we have learned that chemical testing to compare the extracts should be inexpensive, around $30. for each sample analyzed. However we have not yet obtained a "standard", a sample of the pure chemical to calibrate the testing equipment; without the standard, the laboratory can compare the concentrations of hypericin in different extracts, but cannot accurately measure absolute amounts.
If you are using hypericum, or could help us test or research it, please call John or Denny at AIDS Treatment News, (415) 255-0588, to help us pool information for everyone's benefit.
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