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St.-John's-wort

Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia - Cite This Source

St.-John's-wort, any species of the large and widespread herbaceous or shrubby genus Hypericum of the family Hypericaceae (St.-John's-wort family), usually found in moist, open places and often having bright yellow flowers and dotted leaves. A St.-John's-wort is said to have been associated with the sun god Balder, because of its golden flowers, and when Balder's Day became St. John's Day the plant was likewise transferred to St. John. It was supposed to ward off evil spirits and thunderbolts, for which it was worn on St. John's Eve. Long considered to have curative powers, St.-John's-wort was traditionally used for treating wounds and has lately become popular as an herbal remedy in the treatment of mild depression; it is prepared from the dried flowering plant tops of H. perforatum, a European species. Of the North American species a few are cultivated and some are noxious weeds, poisonous to livestock. Several naturalized American plants are Asian species that were introduced by way of Europe. A species of Hypericum is one of several plants called Aaron's-beard, in this case because of the beardlike aspect of its many stamens. See rose of Sharon. St.-John's-wort is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Theales, family Hypericaceae.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

St. John's wort

The Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders - Cite This Source

Definition

St. John's wort is a perennial, yellow-flowering plant that grows in the wild throughout Europe and is now found also in North America. The plant tends to be in blossom in the month of June, around the day considered to be the birthday of John the Baptist; hence its popular name. The plant's Latin name is Hypericum perforatum.

St. John's wort has been used as a popular herbal folk remedy for centuries. More recently, practitioners of conventional Western medicine have been exploring its utility for treating depression and anxiety.

Purpose

Writings since the Middle Ages have described using St. John's wort as treatment for inflammation, injuries, burns, muscle pain, anxiety, high blood pressure, stomach problems, fluid retention, insomnia, hemorrhoids, cancer, and depression. Research conducted over the 1990s in Europe studied the efficacy of St. John's wort for the treatment of depression and anxiety. Research protocols have been developed in the United States to study the same issues, to determine appropriate dosages, to develop standard formulations, and to define whether it can be used for all forms of depression or only for more mild forms of the condition.

Description

Research has yet to completely explain how St. John's wort affects the brainin depression. It is, however, thought to change the balance of chemicals in the brain in much the same way as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as fluoxetine (Prozac), and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). The active ingredients are thought to be compounds called hypericin and pseudohypericin, although researchers are attempting to identify other chemicals that may be involved in the herb's effectiveness.

The leaves and flowers of St. John's wort are both used. St. John's wort is available as pills, capsules, extracts, dried herbs for tea, and oil infusions for skin applications.

Recommended dosage

Because dosages of herbal preparations are not always standardized, it is important to discuss with a knowledgeable practitioner the most reliable form of St. John's wort. Recommendations call for 300–500 mg (of a standardized 0.3% hypericin extract) three times daily. It can take four to six weeks to notice the antidepressant effects of this preparation.

Alternatively, one to two teaspoons of dried St. John's wort can be put into a cup of boiling water and steeped for 10 minutes to make tea. The recommended dosage of tea is one to two cups daily. Again, four to six weeks may be necessary in order to notice improvement in symptoms of depression.

Precautions

The following precautions should be considered and discussed with a knowledgeable practitioner before St. John's wort is taken:

  • Some people may become more sensitive to the sun.
  • Patients taking MAOIs must carefully avoid taking St. John's wort due to serious adverse effects of combining the two.
  • Because the effects of St. John's wort are still being studied, pregnant and breast-feeding women should avoid its use.
  • Depression can be a serious, even life-threatening, condition; therefore, it is imperative that depressed patients using St. John's wort are carefully monitored.

Side effects

People taking St. John's wort may develop one or all of the following side effects:

  • skin rash due to sun sensitivity—the most common side effect
  • headache, dizziness, dry mouth, constipation
  • abdominal pain, confusion, sleep problems, and high blood pressure are less frequently experienced

Interactions

Again, a knowledgeable professional should be consulted before St. John's wort is taken to determine the appropriateness of its use and avoid serious interactions. Interactions include:

  • Possible decrease in effectiveness of reserpine, warfarin, theophylline, immunosuppressant medications such as cyclosporine, and antiviral drugs such as indinavir.
  • Dangerous interactions when used with other antidepressant medicines (especially MAOIs), digoxin, and loperamide.
  • Interactions with oral birth control pills. St. John's wort may interfere with the effectiveness of birth control pills, increasing the risk of pregnancy; an alternative form of birth control should be considered while taking St. John's wort. In addition, women taking both birth control pills and St. John's wort may notice bleeding between menstrual periods.

See also Depression and depressive disorders

Resources

BOOKS

Blumenthal, Mark and others, eds. The Complete German Commission E Monographs: Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines.Austin: American Botanical Council,1998.

PERIODICALS

Zink, Therese and Jody Chaffin. "Herbal 'Health' Products: What Family Physicians Need to Know." American Family Physician 58 (October 1, 1998): 1133.

Rosalyn Carson-DeWitt, M.D.

The Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders
Copyright © 1999 by The Gale Group.
Published by The Gale Group. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

Wort

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

Wort may refer to:

  • Wort (brewing), the liquid created by the mashing of malted barley to use in brewing beer
  • Wort plants, plants containing the middle English word wort in their names
  • WORT, a listener-sponsored community radio station in Madison, Wisconsin
  • d'Wort, a daily newspaper in Luxembourg
  • Wort Agar, a selective medium commonly used in microbiological settings.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Tuesday December 25, 2007 at 09:47:11 PST (GMT -0800)
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WORT

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

WORT (89.9 FM) is a listener-sponsored community radio station, broadcasting from 118 S. Bedford St. in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. WORT offers a whole host of programming made possible by listener sponsors.

WORT's FM signal reaches a roughly 50-mile radius around Madison. In early 2006, the station began webcasting all of its programming in both high quality (96K) and low quality (32K) streams. Listen on the web here WORT also maintains an archive of recent news and public affairs programs available for podcast, download or stream here

WORT mission statement

WORT-FM is a non-commercial, listener sponsored, member controlled community radio station broadcasting to south central Wisconsin. WORT volunteers and staff provide quality programming and services to a broad spectrum of the community through:

  • promotion of communication, education, entertainment, and understanding by providing a forum for both the discussion of public issues and the expansion of musical and cultural experience;

  • facilitation of community expression and provision of community access to the airwaves for the purpose of sharing music, culture, news, and information;

  • challenge of the cultural and intellectual assumptions of our listeners through unique and diverse programming;

  • orientation towards the audience with concern for those under-represented by other media.

WORT is committed to radio programming with a human perspective - respecting all peoples and their environments.

Programming

WORT broadcasts a mix of music and talk programming. All of WORT's music programs are locally produced by local DJs. WORT airs 33 hours of news and public affairs programming, 21.5 of which are locally produced. All of the programmers at the station are volunteers from the community, including DJs, hosts, producers, reporters, and engineers.

Music programming

The weekday music schedule includes:

  • Classical - 5-8am
  • Folk, bluegrass, and world - 9am-noon
  • Jazz - 2-5pm (except Fridays - Rock 2-5pm)
  • Rock, techno, metal, etc. - 8pm-5am
  • Blues - Fridays 6-8pm

The weekend music lineup includes all sorts of genres. Saturdays are divvied up into two-hour shows, beginning with traditional Mexican music at 6am. At 8:00, WORT airs classic R&B, then vintage jazz and swing, then reggae, then music from all around Africa, then salsa and latin jazz, then rock 'n' roll oldies, then blues, then hip-hop all night.

Sunday's music has yet more variety, including medieval and renaissance music in the morning, womyn's music in the early afternoon, followed by showtunes. World music in late afternoon, kids music at 6:30, then gospel, electronic, experimental, and avant garde music through the night.

The whole schedule is posted online.

News and public affairs programming

  • Insurgent Radio Kiosk - 4 times each weekday - commentaries, "this day in history" notes, and community event info ("Action Calendar")
  • Eight O'Clock Buzz - 8:00-9:00am weekdays - mix of music, culture, information, news and interviews
  • A Public Affair - 12:00-1:00pm weekdays - call-in show on issues of international, national and local importance
  • Democracy Now - 1:00-2:00pm Mon-Thurs, 4:30-5:30pm Fri
  • Mel & Floyd - 1:00-2:00pm Fridays - Two wacky guys sit down each week to discuss news, views and things you need to know.
  • BBC News - 5:00-6:00pm Mon-Thurs
  • Free Speech Radio News - 6:00-6:30 Mon-Thurs
  • In Our Backyard - 6:30-7:00pm Mon-Thurs - Alternative local and state news
  • En Nuestro Patio - 7:00-8:00pm Tues - Local, national, and international news and interviews in Spanish.
  • Labor Radio - 5:30-6:00pm Fri - News for, by, and about working people
  • Access Hour - 7:00-8:00pm Mon - A different host from the community every week.
  • Radio Literature - 7:00-7:30pm Thursday - Poetry, fiction, non-fiction readings and discussion
  • Queery - 7:00-7:30pm Wed - local and national news affecting Madison's LesBiGayTrans community
  • Perpetual Notion Machine - 7:30-8:00pm every other Thurs - Science news and features
  • Health Writers - 7:30-8:00pm every other Thurs - health care policy and advocacy for a grassroots health care movement
  • Hmong Radio - 6:00-8:00am Sundays - News, announcements, interviews, and music in Hmong language
  • Her Turn - 11:00-11:30am Sundays - News by and about women, though all are encouraged to listen
  • Third World View - 5:00-6:00pm Sundays - News from the "Third World" from a left-critical perspective
  • Salamat - 6:00-6:30pm Sundays - A weekly window into the vastly varied population of Arabs
  • Pachyderm Parade - 6:30-7:00pm Sundays - The only by-kids, for-kids radio show in Madison
  • Universal Soul Explosion / After Hours - 12:00-6:00am Saturday Night - Hip-hop, R&B, old and new with music and social commentary

WORT's structure

The organizational structure of WORT reflects the station's principles of democratic decision making; the paid and unpaid workers (the volunteers) at the station elect the Board of Directors; the Board sets policy and hires full-time and part-time paid staff. The full-time staff is organized as a collective that operates within sound management practices and written policies established by the Board. The staff collective oversees the day-to-day operations of the station.

WORT is nothing without the more than 300 volunteers who walk through the doors each week. Volunteers provide most of the on-air programming. WORT's distinct programming is the product of the knowledge, hard work, and creativity of the on-air volunteers. In addition, many volunteers contribute to myriad off-air operations.

Affiliations

WORT is a member of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and the Grassroots Radio Coalition. WORT hosted the GRC-5 Conference in 2000 and GRC-11 in 2006.

WORT is an affiliate of the Pacifica network and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC).

WORT is an affiliate of the Public Radio Satellite System, which is how it broadcasts programs like the BBC. The station is also a member of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association.

WORT also has a standing rebroadcast agreement with Madison Indymedia

Recent awards

WORT has been voted "Madison's Favorite Radio Station" in the Isthmus Newspaper's Annual Manual (readers' poll) for seven of the last eight years. Several of its programs have made the top three list of favorite radio shows, including Mel & Floyd (multiple years), Back to the Country, and Pan-Africa.

WORT received Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Merit Awards for its 2006 documentary on Uganda's "invisible children" and its 2005 documentary on Hurricane Katrina aftermath. WORT won best documentary in 2005 from Public Radio News Directors Incorporated for its investigation of pollution at the Madison Kipp factory. It also received a WBA Merit Award for its 2005 election lead-up coverage.

External links

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Monday January 28, 2008 at 21:43:02 PST (GMT -0800)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation

67 More from Wikipedia »


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