Hawthorne

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Hawthorne

(Crataegus Oxyacantha)

 

Description

 

Hawthorne is a spiky bush or tree found in Europe, northwestern

Africa, and western Asia. In England it is grown as a hedge plant.

The tree reaches 13 feet in height and grows along the edges of

woods and forests. Hawthorne has smooth, gray bark and sharp thorns

which grow along the branches. The leaves are dark green with shiny,

bluish-green undersides, and have irregular tooth margins. Snow

white flowers bloom from May to June and grow in terminal corymbs.

The fruits are bright red, oval, two to three seeded, and hang down

in clusters. The medicinal parts are the flowers and the fruit.

 

Other common names:

http://www.springboard4health.com/notebook/herbs_hawthorne.html

English hawthorn May bush May tree

Quickset Thorn apple tree White thorn

 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION

 

Acetylcholine Anthocyanins Caffeinic acid

Chlorogenic acid Flavonoids Hormones

Oleanolic acid Oxyacanthine Phenolic acids

Plant acids Saponins Triterpene acids

Ursolic acid

 

* For definition of some of the above terms see the dictionary

section of this book.

 

NUTRIENT COMPOSITION

 

Bioflavonoids Choline Lecithin

Vitamin B complex Vitamin C

 

 

 

PROPERTIES AND USES

 

Antispasmodic - an agent which relieves or prevents spasms, usually

of the smooth muscles; barbiturates and valerian are examples of

antispasmodics.

 

Cardiac - a substance which stimulates heart metabolism and

strengthens contractions, and may at times cause a slowing of heart

rate due to more efficient activity.

 

Sedative - a class of drugs which function to quiet nervous

excitement and reduce motor activity without inducing sleep. They

are used in the management of neuroses and in the treatment of

anxiety and apprehension accompanying various disease states such as

hypertension. Sedatives commonly function to induce reversible

depression of the central nervous system. Examples of this class are

phenobarbital, secobarbital sodium, and pentobarbital.

 

Vasodilator - an agent which causes dilation of blood vessels.

 

Hawthorne berries are very effective for relieving insomnia. A

poultice of crushed leaves or fruit has strong draining powers and

has been used in England for centuries for the treatment of embedded

thorns and splinters, and some sores. The fruits are used for

nervousness and also to prevent miscarriage. It has been known for

centuries as a treatment for heart disease. Regular use increases

cardiovascular health. It is an excellent heart tonic; it dilates

peripheral blood vessels, increase metabolism in the heart muscle,

dilates coronary vessels, and improves blood supply to the heart.

The herb also acts to abolish rhythm disturbances.

 

Several of hawthorn's most active constituents are cholines,

chlorogenic acid, caffeinic acid, and ascorbic acid. The

constituents in hawthorn berries work together to help prevent

coronary thrombosis and cardiac arrest. The choline present in the

berries is the main principle in lecithin, which helps to control

cholesterol by breaking fat into tiny particles which can then pass

very easily into the tissues of the body.

 

Hawthorn is hypotensive and anabolic

 

Compared to digitalis, it is much milder and safer to use, more a

tonic than a specific. The herb is tonic for both high and low blood

pressure, as well as tachycardia and arrhythmia. Mild anti-

arteriosclerotic principles have been identified in hawthorn;

antispasmodic and sedative properties have also been ascribed to it,

but have not been experimentally verified.

 

 

 

Hawthorne is an excellent cardiotonic

 

It functions by peripheral vasodilation; very mild dilation of

coronary vessels; increased enzyme metabolism in the heart muscle;

and increased oxygen utilization by the heart.

 

A noted expert in the area maintains that hawthorn drugs are

characterized by three basic healing properties which complement one

another:

 

1. Improvement of coronary blood supply which leads to a decreased

frequency of anginal attacks and of subjective complaints.

 

2. Improvement of the metabolic processes in the myocardium, which

results in an improvement of functional heart activity.

 

3. Abolition of some types of rhythm disturbances.

 

In human patients with perfusion disorders of the coronary arteries

due to coronary sclerosis, hawthorn significantly decreased oxygen

utilization during exercise. In 40 of 52 patients, intravenous

administration of hawthorn extract for a mean period of 13.4 days

produces a noticeable decrease in the ischemia reaction in the

exercise EKG. In patients undergoing standard therapies such as CD2

partial baths, an improvement was seen in only 25% of the cases.

 

In another study on human subjects with primary heart disease,

intravenous hawthorn extract produced an improvement in almost all

cases, as determined by a normalization of heart dynamics (the

mechanical efficiency of the heart muscle). In patients with

secondary heart disease the effect was not as great in terms of the

number of cases helped, but significant effects were seen in those

cases that were helped. The herb also helped patients whose heart

disease was caused by hepatitis or other liver disease. Taken

together, these results suggest a positive inotropic action.

 

Excellent results in a wide variety of coronary problems were

obtained utilizing a crossed, double-blind procedure. The substance

used was a German drug called Corguttin, which composed of

Adonidiss, Covallaria majalis, Hawthorn, Primula officinales, and

Valerian officinales. This product proved extremely effective in

meeting the routine, daily needs of patients with minor heart

problems.

 

Hawthorn has vasodilatory action

 

It has a marked and prolonged vasodilatory action, and an ability to

lower peripheral resistance to blood flow in dogs and guinea pigs.

The extract was injected directly into the arteria coronaria.

Intravenous injection caused no change in the volume of coronary

blood flow, but still showed lowering of peripheral resistance. The

blood supply of the central nervous system was influenced in the

same manner as that of the coronary vessels, i.e., the resistance to

blood flow was lowered, and following direct injection into the

carotid, the blood volume passing through was also increased.

 

Hawthorne increases blood flow

 

In a series of experiments in dogs, aqueous solutions of

heptahydroxyflavenoglycoside, a component of hawthorn, was used to

demonstrate the herb's cardiac and circulatory actions. Intra-

arterial injections in the a. femoralis, a. femoris post. sup. (a

muscle vessel), and a. coronaria dextra, caused increased blood

flow. In the a. saphena (a skin vessel) and the a. renalis, the

blood flow was lowered. Blood pressure was raised by injection into

the a. coronaria dextra and intravenous injection. No changes in

urinary excretion and respiration were found. No definite dose-

response relationship could be determined because the degree of

response was unpredictable.

 

Hawthorne successfully destroys experimentally-induced blockade of

anaerobic glycolysis, a condition that typifies some forms of heart

disease cause by enzyme insufficiency.

 

In patients with chronic cardiac insufficiency, hawthorn has

produced a quickening of the heart beat. It increased coronary blood

flow by increasing the cardiac output and by direct influence on the

smooth muscles of the vessels. Arterial and venous blood pressure

were not affected, the EKG was not influenced, and no pulmonary

damage was observed.

 

Hawthorn is hypotensive

 

A fraction of the hawthorn extract, containing flavan polymers, had

a low toxicity in the mouse, a pronounced hypotensive activity in

the cat, and strong and prolonged cardiotonic action and

detoxicating properties in the rabbit.

 

Oligomeric procyanidins isolated from hawthorn extract decrease

blood pressure in cats; in mice, they decreased aggression and body

temperature, and prolonged hexobarbital narcosis.

 

Hawthorn versus Digitalis

 

It was once assumed that hawthorn and digitalis belonged to the same

class of agents. That hypothesis has been totally refuted by studies

which demonstrated that hawthorn may partly antagonize the

undesirable properties of digitalis. In addition, hawthorn enhances

pulse and positively potentiates the force of muscular contractions.

 

It enhances cardiac output or performance in rats as measured by

stress swimming trials. On isolated from heart, it has a tonic and

normalizing action. Unlike digitalis, hawthorn lowers blood pressure

through dilation of peripheral vessels, rather than by direct action

on the heart.

 

Thus it preserves critical reflexive blood pressure regulation. In

man, hawthorn acts even on the healthy heart to increase cardiac

activity. Hawthorn appears to have less of an immediate effect than

digitalis. After longer periods of use, subjective betterment

accompanied by objective measurable improvement in tonus and

regulation of cardiac activity are observed with hawthorn. Unlike

digitalis, hawthorn exhibits an absence of cumulative activity; it

appears to occupy a position somewhere between digitalis and

adrenaline.

 

Heart tissue pretreated with either Hawthorn or Digitalis becomes

sensitized to the other, so that only about half the normal dose of

the second is required to obtain normal results. This suggest a

synergism between the two substances.

 

Hawthorn has an anabolic effect on metabolism

 

After 14 hours of abstinence from food, the blood levels of free

fatty acids, free glycerol, triglyceride, glucose, lactate, and

pyruvate were measured in ten human subjects. These levels were

measured again 30, 60, and 120 minutes after intravenous injection

of hawthorn extracts. Thirty and sixty minutes after injection, a

significant decrease in free fatty acids and lactate was observed.

Glucose and pyruvate also decreased, whereas the concentration of

triglycerides increased. The observed alterations in fat and

carbohydrate metabolism suggests that hawthorn has an anabolic

effect on metabolism, presumably by an influence on the enzymatic

system. In this way, a decrease in oxygen and energy consumption

would occur.

 

 

 

TOXICITY FACTORS

 

No toxicity has been attributed directly to hawthorn. However, since

it is an active cardiotonic herb, users should exercise extreme

caution when combining this herb with other cardiac drugs.

 

DRUG PRECAUTIONS AND INTERACTIONS

 

Known Interactions

 

The effects of hawthorn and digitalis are synergistic, such that

only half the normal dose of digitalis is required if hawthorn is

also being used.

 

Possible Interactions

 

Diuretic-induced hypokalemia may increase the activity of hawthorn;

guinidine, procainamide, and propranolol may also enhance its

effects. Conversely, the effects of the herb may be reduced by

propantheline, spironolactone, and triamterene, as well as by

antacids, anti-diarrheal absorbent suspensions, neomycin,

cholestyramine, and other anionic exchange resins. Hawthorn is

synergistic with parenteral calcium salts, pancuronium,

succinylcholine, rauwolfia alkaloids, ephedrine, epinephrine, and

other adrenergic agents. The inotropic action of this herb may be

reduced by propranolol; however, the effect of the two substances on

AV are additive. Cyclopropane or halogenated hydrocarbon anesthetics

may sensitize the myocardium to the cardiotonic effects of hawthorn,

although the chances of this happening are very low.

 

Comments

 

The cardiac alkaloids in hawthorn may antagonize the action of

heparin. Certain drugs induce activity by hepatic microsomal enzymes

that metabolize cardiac glycosides. These agents probably affect the

action of hawthorn, but in an as yet unknown manner. To the extent

that hawthorn's action depends on the presence of cholinergic

substances, it will be affected by the decrease in cholinergic-

receptor stimulation produced by anticholinergics. Drugs utilized to

treat angina pectoris, such as nadolol and propanolol HDI, may

reduce AV conduction induced by this herb.