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effective for: “cognitive stimulation with emotional calming; enhanced learning and
memory; and increased accuracy in mental performance for prolonged periods of
time."^1 Rhodiola was found to protect against physical stresses, fatigue, cold, heat,
toxins, and radiation. Studies of uncertain methodological rigor found that rhodiola
“enhanced intellectual work capacity, abstract thinking, and reaction time.”^2
In a 2002 review (the first review of rhodiola in English) and in their 2004 book, The
Rhodiola Revolution,^3 Brown and Gerbarg state that the primary clinical uses of
rhodiola are for cognitive disorders, memory and performance under stress. However,
based on trials conducted in the former Soviet Union beginning in 1987 and their own
clinical practice, they note that rhodiola also can be useful in the treatment of
depression. A recent small open-label study showed promising results for the use of
rhodiola for anxiety, but the size and open label study design preclude any conclusion at
this point except for the usual need for more study.^4
In Brown et al. II, Panossian, A.G. asserts that rhodiola studies have shown a “significant
antidepressant effect.”^5
The randomized study conducted by Darbinyan et al. and published in 2001 assessed
“fatigue and mental performance” (associative thinking, short-term memory,
concentration, speed of audio-visual perceptions, and other parameters defined as a
“Fatigue Index”) in a group of 56 young, healthy physicians on night duty receiving a
low-dose treatment of SHR-5 rhodiola (170 mg per day). The tests were performed
before and after night duty during three two-week periods in a double-blind cross-over
trial. A statistically significant improvement in fatigue and mental performance was
observed in the treatment group during the first 2 weeks. By 6 weeks, however, the
effect appeared to be lost. Iovieno et al. speculate that the effect decline could be due
to the relatively short-term benefit of use of SHR-5, or to the low dose used, or the
cross-over design of the study.^6 Brown and Gerbarg add that the dosage used in this
study was sub-therapeutic -- about half of the recommended dose. They state that in
their clinical experience, some people are able to continue taking rhodiola in