Hawthorne

(Crataegus oxycantha)

Cardiac Function

The berries and flowers of crataegus oxycantha have been used traditionally as cardiac tonics for a variety of heart disorders. Research shows crataegus extracts exert a wide range of positive actions on heart function. Treatment of chronic congestive heart failure stage II, as defined by the New York Heart Association has been studied in a number of clinical trials. In one study, individuals were treated with Hawthorne over a period of eight weeks. Crataegus treatment resulted in improvement in subjective symptoms, such as reduced performance, shortness of breath, and ankle edema.(1) In another study of patients with stage NYHA -II cardiac insufficiency, oral supplementation improved blood pressure, heart rate, and the change in heart rate in response to exercise under standardized bicycle ergometer testing.(2) Clinical data indicates that standardized extracts of Hawthorne increase myocardial performance, improve myocardial circulatory perfusion and tolerance in cases of oxygen deficiency, have antiarrhythmic effects and reduce afterload (3) In a trial without controls involving seven patients with stages II and III cardiac insufficiency, with an angiographically determined left ventricular ejection fraction of less than 55% over a period of 4 weeks, oral administration of 240mg

Hawthorne extract containing daily for 4 weeks increased the ventricular ejection fraction from 29.80 to 40.45%, as measured by angiography.(4).

Hypertension

Crataegus exerts mild blood pressure-lowering activity by dilating coronary vessels, inhibiting angiotensin converting enzyme, acting as an inotropic agent (5). In various animal models, a decrease in peripheral vascular resistance and hypertension occurred after treatment with leaf and/or flower extracts.

References- Hawthorne