Hawthorn: Powerful Heart Medication

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Hawthorn

 

>

> LATIN NAME: Crataegus monogyna

> FAMILY NAME: Rosaceae

> http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/54/9.cfm

>

> My genes require that I put certain herbs at the top of my herbal hit

> parade. I take celery seed to prevent the gout that plagues all the

> Duke boys, myself included. I take echinacea and garlic as a

> precaution against colon cancer, which killed my father and two uncles.

>

> But there's no history of heart disease in my family tree, so it may

> seem odd that I rank hawthorn high in the pantheon of Duke's Dozen. My

> wife Peggy, on the other hand, does have a genetic predisposition to

> heart disease, since both of her parents suffered heart problems. At

> first glance, hawthorn probably belongs more in her medicine chest

> than mine.

>

> But after mulling it over, I decided to add hawthorn to my list of

> essential herbs. You see, my genes alone don't tell the whole story.

> Unlike my parents, I smoked like a chimney--three packs a day for

> nearly 30 years. Even though I kicked the habit way back in 1971, I'm

> sure the smoking took its toll on my lungs and heart. Good genes or

> not, a heart attack may be on the horizon.

>

> Add to that the stress of day-to-day living. Even though I'm retired,

> I'm probably under more stress now than in all the years I worked as a

> botanist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I'm always under the

> pressure of writing deadlines (this book was no exception), and I give

> over 200 lectures a year. Racing to the airport, then to the hotel,

> then to the lecture hall, and then back again to the airport sure

> takes a toll on the ticker.

>

> My trips to the Amazon aren't stress-free, either. Heat, frustration,

> overexertion, and local political problems all combine to create

> conditions ripe for a coronary. Add to that my penchant for adventure,

> like the time I ignored my shaman's advice and waded through knee-deep

> waters in a flooded black lagoon. Electric eels, stingrays, and

> anacondas lurked below the surface. Just sharing the same space with

> an anaconda is enough to bring on heart failure.

>

> But whenever I visit my doctor, he doesn't seem concerned. My

> electrocardiograms (EKGs) have never raised so much as an eyebrow, let

> alone an alarm. Still, an ounce of hawthorn is worth a pound of cure.

> It's loaded with heart-smart oligomeric procyanidins (OPCs) and

> bioflavonoids, which can help keep your heart rhythm regular and

> prevent a variety of heart problems. I take hawthorn anytime my stress

> levels are elevated. And I'd take it religiously if I had a mild heart

> condition.

>

> DR. DUKE'S NOTES

> Hawthorn is often grown as an ornamental hedge in England.

>

>

>

> What Hawthorn Is and What It Can Do

>

> Hawthorn in a deciduous flowering shrub with small thorns, stocky

> branches, and small, red, oval fruits that look a lot like crabapples.

> You'll find it residing along roadsides, in fields, and in wooded

> areas throughout Europe and in parts of North America, mainly in the

> Northeast but also south beyond the Carolinas and west at least as far

> as Oklahoma. The hawthorn bush can soar as high as 40 feet.

>

> There are at least 200 species of hawthorn, and I don't know a trained

> botanist--let alone a gardener, herbalist, chemist, pharmacist, or

> physician--who can tell them apart.

>

> The fruit is tart to the taste. I sampled several species last year at

> the Colonial Garden in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and I've tried even

> tastier fruit at the Coker Arboretum at my alma mater, the University

> of North Carolina. Native Americans ate many species of Crataegus.

> Today, though, naturopathic physicians usually don't recommend eating

> the wild fruit raw. While I consider them food plants and eat them raw

> and fresh--in moderation--any time I come across one that tastes good,

> I can't endorse the practice for anyone else (except for close family

> and friends). A safer bet is to eat the fruit dried or cooked, perhaps

> as a jelly. The fruit can also be brewed into a heady wine, and its

> young leaves and white flowers steeped to make a tea. Interestingly,

> hawthorn contains many of the same compounds as common teas, including

> black, green, and oolong teas, promoted these days for a variety of

> health benefits. But the standardized capsule is what I recommend for

> heart health.

>

> DR. DUKE'S NOTES

> In northern China, vendors sell crataegus fruits on sticks. They're

> coated with a sweet sugar syrup, like our candy apples. I've eaten

> one. It was good. Probably oversweetened.

>

>

>

> Help for Your Heart

>

> Germany's prestigious Commission E, a panel of experts roughly

> equivalent to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, has approved

> hawthorn for a number of heart problems. It's widely used in Europe

> for treating angina, which causes chest pains and is brought on by

> blockage in the arteries. Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D., Sc.D., professor

> emeritus of pharmacognosy at Perdue University, discusses hawthorn's

> heart-health benefits in his excellent book, Herbs of Choice. The OPCs

> in hawthorn, he explains, have beta-blocking activities.

> (Beta-blockers are drugs prescribed to increase coronary blood flow

> and help lower blood pressure and heart rate, stopping arrhythmias.)

> Hawthorn also contains flavonoids, compounds that open up the coronary

> arteries. It appears to stabilize heart rhythm, decrease palpitations

> brought on by anxiety, increase exercise tolerance, reduce blood

> pressure, and lower cholesterol levels. In their book The Natural

> Pharmacy, Skye W. Lininger and his colleagues say that

> hawthorn " may " improve blood flow through the coronary arteries.

>

> Because hawthorn is a powerful heart medication, I'd advise erring on

> the side of caution. Literature from some leading British and German

> research scientists suggests that hawthorn is not suitable for

> self-medication. True! No one should try to treat a serious heart

> condition on his or her own. Before you take hawthorn, talk to your

> doctor. But I do recommend the tasty species as a preventive food for

> the strong of heart.

>

> FROM MY SCIENCE NOTEBOOK

> Modern science validates hawthorn's centuries-old use as an effective

> means of strengthening the heart and staving off cardiac problems.

> Hawthorn activity is due primarily to proanthocyanidins and

> flavonoids, including quercetin, hyperoside, vitexin,

> vitexin-rhamnoside, and rutin. Flavonoids are a large class of

> pigments found in plants that protect blood vessels, aid in

> circulation, stimulate bile production, and lower cholesterol levels.

> Proanthocyanidins are one of 12 classes of flavonoids. Oligomeric

> proanthocyanidins (OPCs) are one type of proanthocyanidin. The

> cardioprotective effects of proanthocyanidins have been supported by

> recent studies of red wine and grape seeds.

>

>

>

> How Hawthorn Can Help

>

> Hawthorn can be used to treat a variety of health problems and,

> according to European clinical experience, is safe to use over

> extended periods of time. Here are some of the conditions for which

> it's shown to be effective:

>

> Good Heart Health

>

> Hawthorn seems to be helpful for a variety of cardiac problems.

>

> Angina pectoris. Caused by a deficient blood supply to the heart,

> symptoms of angina include tightness, pressure, or burning in the

> chest, and pain that may radiate to the left shoulder, down the left

> arm, and to the back or jaw. Exercise can exacerbate the problem,

> since it puts extra pressure on the arteries as they try to deliver

> more oxygen-rich blood to the muscles. Similarly, stress, fear, and

> anger all get the heart pumping faster, and they too can bring on angina.

>

> The nutrients magnesium and niacin, found in fruits and vegetables

> including hawthorn, have been long recommended for treating angina.

> People deficient in these nutrients can get them from hawthorn and

> other supplements. Research supports the use of hawthorn for treating

> angina. In their book, Herbal Medicines: A Guide for Health-care

> Professionals, authors Carol Newall, Linda Anderson, and J. David

> Phillipson report that German researchers gave 60 angina patients 60

> milligrams of hawthorn three times daily, with positive results.

>

> Arrhythmia. Cardiac arrhythmia is an irregular beating of the heart.

> If the heart races more than 100 beats per minute, the condition is

> called tachycardia. A heartbeat slower than 60 beats per minute is

> known as bradycardia. Abnormal heart rhythm can result in atrial

> arrhythmia, a " pooling " of blood if the heart can't pump it from its

> upper chambers, which can lead to clotting, heart attack, or stroke.

> Ventricular arrhythmia affects the lower chambers in the heart,

> leading to ventricular fibrillation, a condition in which the heart

> flutters weakly instead of pumping powerfully. A significant number of

> fatal heart attacks are attributed to ventricular fibrillation.

>

> Studies have shown that hawthorn extracts administered to rabbits have

> a beneficial effect on arrhythmia. I've heard one report that hawthorn

> can induce arrhythmias, but I don't put much stock in this single,

> isolated finding. A single reported case just doesn't win the race!

> Still, it's advisable to check with your doctor.

>

> Atherosclerosis. This heart condition results when cholesterol,

> lipids, and calcium deposits clog the arteries. It's the most common

> form of arteriosclerosis, in which vessels become diseased--they

> thicken, harden, and lose elasticity. Arteriosclerosis is a leading

> cause of death in the United States, and family history isn't the only

> determining factor in developing this condition. A sedentary

> lifestyle, high cholesterol, obesity, cigarette smoking, and stress

> all play a part.

>

> While you can't change your genes, you can change your lifestyle. Call

> a halt to bad habits, get off your duff and exercise, and eat a

> heart-healthy diet full of OPC-laden fruits, including dried or cooked

> hawthorn, prunes, strawberries, rosehips, peaches, crabapples, pears,

> and blackberries. All are members of the rose family, along with

> cherries, plums, chokecherries, wineberries, cloudberries, and apricots.

>

> Doctors often recommend aspirin, a blood thinner, to prevent a second

> heart attack. Hawthorn, too, has blood-thinning properties--in fact,

> it reportedly contains at least seven known blood thinners.

>

> Cardiovascular insufficiency. This is a broad term for the inadequate

> performance of the heart and blood vessels. People who have it report

> reduced performance in cardiovascular activities, shortness of breath,

> and swelling of the ankles. In one German study, researchers treated

> 136 patients with cardiovascular insufficiency and found that their

> condition improved, with minimal risk.

>

> Dyspnea. Breathing difficulty and chest pain can be caused by

> circulation disturbances or blood that lacks sufficient oxygen.

> According to Potter's New Cyclopaedia of Botanical Drugs and

> Preparations, clinical trials in Japan showed that 80 patients given

> hawthorn fruits and leaves showed improvement in dyspnea, edema, and

> cardiac function.

>

> Edema. Edema causes bloating, swelling, and inflammation among

> patients with heart problems, which is one reason why diuretics are

> often prescribed for heart patients.

>

> Hawthorn is blessed with at least nine antiedemics. In Herbal

> Medicinals: A Clinician's Guide, Miller and Murray share an

> interesting case study of a 62-year-old man with congestive heart

> failure. An herbalist recommended that he take hawthorn, which

> reportedly lessened his edema and improved his physical endurance.

>

> High blood pressure. Hawthorn contains at least three

> antihypertensives, which help keep blood pressure from rising. Lucinda

> G. Miller, Pharm.D., and Wallace Murray, authors of Herbal Medicinals:

> A Clinician's Guide report that hawthorn expands blood vessels,

> lowering blood pressure and reducing the heart's workload.

>

> High cholesterol. High cholesterol can lead to serious complications

> including cardiovascular disease, a major health problem in the United

> States responsible for the most deaths, the largest number of

> hospitalizations, and the greatest number of pharmaceutical

> prescriptions. The best way to prevent heart problems, of course, is

> to keep your heart strong and healthy with regular exercise and a

> low-fat, low-cholesterol diet.

>

> I would also look to hawthorn. A study from the biochemistry

> department at the University of Madras, India, shows that a tincture

> of hawthorn berries can help ward off high blood cholesterol and

> atherosclerosis.

>

> Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

>

> While hawthorn is best-known as a heart-helper, there is some

> indication that it may be useful in treating attention-deficit

> hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a condition marked by an inability to

> stay focused and attentive, and a particular problem among children.

> David Winston, a noted East Coast herbalist, tells me that he uses

> hawthorn not only for heart problems but also for ADHD. While he

> prefers to work with a solid extract of the fruit of the European

> species, Crataegus monogyna, he says he's happy with any of the native

> American species that have white flowers, believing them to be almost

> as effective as European hawthorns. He believes these flowers have

> even more biologically active effects than the fruits. His " Focus

> Formula " for ADHD includes oats, fresh lemon balm, dried hawthorn

> fruit and flower, dried autumn ginkgo leaf, and fresh skullcap herb.

>

> The drug Ritalin is widely prescribed to treat ADHD in children--far

> too widely, in my opinion. Instead, I'd try making a hawthorn sauce,

> just as I'd make an applesauce, and spice it up with cinnamon. I'll

> bet that kids like it better.

>

> A CASE IN POINT

> Hawthorn Successes

>

> I've heard many success stories from people who've tried hawthorn.

> Here are two:

>

> Christopher Hobbs, author of Handmade Medicines, recently told me

> about his father, Ken, a botanist and former university professor. Ken

> had a massive heart attack when he was 48 years old. During his

> recovery, he started taking hawthorn, and his doctor was amazed at his

> progress. Today, Ken is 78 and still takes hawthorn faithfully. His

> circulation has improved, and his heart is strong and steady.

>

> And a registered nurse who's a frequent guest on my Peruvian eco-tours

> told me that hawthorn changed her family's life. She has weaned her

> husband off his heart medication and put him on hawthorn and linden

> instead. She persuaded her father to take hawthorn for cardiomyopathy.

> And she recommended hawthorn as a natural diuretic to her younger

> sister, who has insulin-dependent diabetes and suffered an allergic

> reaction to a prescription diuretic.

>

>

>

> How to Take It and How Much

>

> Hawthorn is available in several forms: fresh, dried, liquid extracts,

> tinctures, powders, and capsules. I think everyone should make the

> fruit part of a healthy diet, in cooked or dried form--not raw (even

> though I eat it raw). Our hungrier ancestors probably ate any ripe

> hawthorn berry they encountered. If you take the dried fruit, a

> suggested dosage is 0.3 to 1 gram per day.

>

> Standardized extracts of hawthorn, in my view, may be taken by people

> with minor heart problems, but let me reiterate: Talk to your doctor

> before you take hawthorn. It's very important that you take the right

> kind of standardized extract at the appropriate daily dosage, extracts

> containing 1.8 percent vitexin-4-rhamnosides or 10 percent OPCs in

> dosages of 120 to 240 milligrams three times per day.

>

> Useful Combinations

>

> Naturopaths and nutritionists often recommend other heart-wise herbs,

> vitamins, and nutrients along with hawthorn.

>

> Angelica. Calcium deposits in the arteries can lead to heart

> complications. Angelica can help. This natural calcium antagonist

> reportedly contains at least 15 calcium-blocking compounds. Two have

> been shown to have better calcium-fighting functions that Verapamil,

> an angina medication.

>

> This kind of data prompted me to cook up a concoction called

> " Angelade. " The primary ingredient is juiced angelica, along with

> other foods that contain calcium blockers including carrot, celery,

> fennel, parsley, and parsnip (for the recipe, see page 75).

>

> Animal musk. My good friends Albert Leung, Ph.D., and nationally known

> herbalist Steven Foster, authors of several useful books including my

> favorite, Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients, report that

> clinical trials of musk in China showed improvement in about 74

> percent of heart patients--a track record as good or better than the

> prescription medication nitroglycerin. To clarify: This is animal

> musk, not the vegetable musks from the mallow family. As an herbalist,

> I don't work with musk myself.

>

> Celery juice. Tip back a cold glass of celery juice. In one study of

> rats fed a high-fat diet for eight weeks, those given a celery juice

> supplement showed lowered total cholesterol, LDL, and triglycerides, a

> fatty substance in the blood that is also an important factor in the

> development of heart disease. Clinical trials in the United States

> showed that the equivalent of four stalks of celery lowered blood

> pressure.

>

> Pineapple enzyme. California herbalist Kathi Keville, whom I greatly

> admire, says that more than 400 research papers--most of them from

> Germany--have been devoted to the medicinal uses of bromelain , an

> enzyme found in pineapple. One such study, done in the early 1970s,

> showed that angina patients who took bromelain enjoyed relief from

> their symptoms within 4 to 90 days, depending on the seriousness of

> their condition. Their heart problems returned when they stopped

> taking the enzyme.

>

> Walnuts. Walnuts and other nuts high in monounsaturated fatty acids,

> such as almonds, filberts, macademias, pistachios, pecans, and the

> delicious avocado fruit, may lower cholesterol, helping to keep the

> heart strong. Research has shown that a diet with 20 percent of

> calories from walnuts lowered total cholesterol by 12 percent and

> low-density lipoprotein (LDL), often called " bad cholesterol, " by 16

> percent.

>

> Herbal combination. Dr. Leung and Foster also suggest Canada balsam,

> cassia, cinnamon, and turmeric for heart and chest pain.

>

> Nutrient combination. Studies support a combination of four nutrients

> to treat heart disease: I-carnitine, Coenzyme Q10, magnesium, and

> vitamin E. A suggested preventive dose is 1,000 milligrams per day of

> I-carnitine, 100 milligrams of CoQ10, 800 milligrams of magnesium, and

> 800 IU (international units) of vitamin E. Supplements are

> recommended, since it's tough to get these levels even from eating the

> best of my plants.

>

> HERB LORE AND MORE

> Hawthorn has a long history as a heart tonic in herbal folklore.

> Europeans, Chinese, and Native American peoples used the herb as a

> cardiac medication, brewed as a tea or taken in tincture form. The

> Cherokees also used an infusion of the bark to prevent heart spasms.

>

> Besides heart conditions, hawthorn tea was also taken to soothe sore

> throats and as a natural diuretic for kidney disorders. Native

> Americans often treated rheumatism with hawthorn, and its flowers and

> berries were gathered for their astringent properties..

>

> Today, traditional Chinese practitioners still use hawthorn as an aid

> in the digestion of fatty foods.

>

>

>

> Caution: Contraindications, Interactions, and Side Effects

>

> Hawthorn is considered extremely safe even when used over long periods

> of time. For the most part (with the exception noted below), there are

> no known interactions with prescription heart medications or other

> types of drugs. Still, it bears repeating that you should consult your

> doctor before using hawthorn, and keep the following possible side

> effects in mind.

>

> Fatigue. Known but rarely reported side effects of hawthorn include

> fatigue, possibly accompanied by nausea, rash, and sweating.

>

> Depression. Flower extracts may act as a mild depressant.

>

> Pregnancy alert. I always caution that all medicines, both herbal and

> pharmaceutical, be avoided unless approved by your obstetrician.

> Having said that, I wouldn't discourage my own pregnant daughter from

> using hawthorn in food form--cautiously--if she had a heart condition.

> I'd also suggest other members of the rose family, including apples

> and crabapples, as they're almost certainly safer than prescription

> drugs.

>

> Pharmaceutical alert. Studies suggest that in the early stages of

> heart disease, hawthorn is more effective than the commonly prescribed

> digitalis, a drug derived from the herb foxglove, and has fewer side

> effects. However, if you're on digitalis, you should never try

> hawthorn or any herbal medication without consulting your doctor.

> Hawthorn may make digitalis more active.

>

> A CASE IN POINT

> The Frantic Father

>

> The caller sounded desperately worried. He had a question about using

> hawthorn for cardiac arrhythmia, a condition in which the heart beats

> irregularly, typically racing ahead or skipping a beat. Cardiac

> arrhythmias can lead to potentially fatal heart attacks.

>

> I expected him to tell me that he himself had been diagnosed with the

> condition, which usually occurs in adults over age 50. But he

> explained that the person with the problem was his little girl, only 6

> years old.

>

> Calcium channel-blockers--the medication customarily prescribed for

> this condition--weren't working for his daughter, he told me. My first

> thought was, " Oh no! He's going to ask me to prescribe an herbal

> medication over the phone. " This is something I never do--and I'd

> certainly never reconsider in a condition as serious as a cardiac

> disorder in a child. To my relief, he wasn't looking for an herbal

> prescription. His daughter's doctor, he said, had already turned to

> the alternative medicine chest, suggesting a regimen including

> hawthorn, Coenzyme Q10, and magnesium. Research has shown that all

> three help the heart.

>

> The alternative approach, the father reported, was working for his

> young daughter. But he was concerned about hawthorn's toxic effects if

> used over a long period of time. I scoured my herbal database,

> reviewed the literature, and faxed him all the evidence I could

> muster. Turns out, hawthorn seems to be safe even for long-term use. I

> found no links between hawthorn and heart attacks. I did find one

> isolated report to the effect that hawthorn can induce arrhythmias,

> and I felt obligated to tell him about it, but I frankly don't place

> too much stock in it.

>

> If it were my daughter, I sure would rather give her hawthorn than a

> pharmaceutically synthetic calcium channel-blocker. It certainly

> worked for my caller, since his daughter got better.

>

> http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/54/9.cfm

> _________________