Herbs - Hawthorne (Crataegus Oxyacantha)

(Crataegus Oxyacantha)Description

Hawthorne is a spiky bush or tree found in Europe, northwesternAfrica, and western Asia. In England it is grown as a hedge plant. Thetree reaches 13 feet in height and grows along the edges of woods andforests. Hawthorne has smooth, gray bark and sharp thorns which growalong the branches. The leaves are dark green with shiny, bluish-greenundersides, and have irregular tooth margins. Snow white flowersbloom from May to June and grow in terminal corymbs. The fruits arebright red, oval, two to three seeded, and hang down in clusters. Themedicinal parts are the flowers and the fruit.

Other common names:

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 sectionof this book.

NUTRIENT COMPOSITION

Bioflavonoids Choline Lecithin Vitamin B complex Vitamin C

PROPERTIES AND USES

Antispasmodic - an agent which relieves or prevents spasms, usually ofthe smooth muscles; barbiturates and valerian are examples ofantispasmodics.

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Cardiac - a substance which stimulates heart metabolism andstrengthens contractions, and may at times cause a slowing of heart ratedue to more efficient activity.

Sedative - a class of drugs which function to quiet nervous excitementand reduce motor activity without inducing sleep. They are used in themanagement of neuroses and in the treatment of anxiety andapprehension accompanying various disease states such ashypertension. Sedatives commonly function to induce reversibledepression of the central nervous system. Examples of this class arephenobarbital, secobarbital sodium, and pentobarbital.

Vasodilator - an agent which causes dilation of blood vessels.

Hawthorne berries are very effective for relieving insomnia. A poulticeof crushed leaves or fruit has strong draining powers and has been usedin England for centuries for the treatment of embedded thorns andsplinters, and some sores. The fruits are used for nervousness and alsoto prevent miscarriage. It has been known for centuries as a treatmentfor heart disease. Regular use increases cardiovascular health. It is anexcellent heart tonic; it dilates peripheral blood vessels, increasemetabolism in the heart muscle, dilates coronary vessels, and improvesblood supply to the heart. The herb also acts to abolish rhythmdisturbances.

Several of hawthorn's most active constituents are cholines, chlorogenicacid, caffeinic acid, and ascorbic acid. The constituents in hawthornberries work together to help prevent coronary thrombosis and cardiacarrest. The choline present in the berries is the main principle inlecithin, which helps to control cholesterol by breaking fat into tinyparticles 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 tonicthan a specific. The herb is tonic for both high and low blood pressure,as well as tachycardia and arrhythmia. Mild anti-arterioscleroticprinciples have been identified in hawthorn; antispasmodic and sedativeproperties have also been ascribed to it, but have not beenexperimentally verified.

Hawthorne is an excellent cardiotonic

It functions by peripheral vasodilation; very mild dilation of coronaryvessels; increased enzyme metabolism in the heart muscle; andincreased oxygen utilization by the heart.

A noted expert in the area maintains that hawthorn drugs arecharacterized by three basic healing properties which complement oneanother:

1. Improvement of coronary blood supply which leads to a decreasedfrequency of anginal attacks and of subjective complaints.


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2. Improvement of the metabolic processes in the myocardium, whichresults 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 dueto coronary sclerosis, hawthorn significantly decreased oxygenutilization during exercise. In 40 of 52 patients, intravenousadministration of hawthorn extract for a mean period of 13.4 daysproduces a noticeable decrease in the ischemia reaction in the exerciseEKG. In patients undergoing standard therapies such as CD2 partialbaths, 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 allcases, as determined by a normalization of heart dynamics (themechanical efficiency of the heart muscle). In patients with secondaryheart disease the effect was not as great in terms of the number of caseshelped, but significant effects were seen in those cases that werehelped. The herb also helped patients whose heart disease was causedby hepatitis or other liver disease. Taken together, these results suggesta positive inotropic action.

Excellent results in a wide variety of coronary problems were obtainedutilizing a crossed, double-blind procedure. The substance used was aGerman drug called Corguttin, which composed of Adonidiss,Covallaria majalis, Hawthorn, Primula officinales, and Valerianofficinales. This product proved extremely effective in meeting theroutine, daily needs of patients with minor heart problems.

Hawthorn has vasodilatory action

It has a marked and prolonged vasodilatory action, and an ability tolower peripheral resistance to blood flow in dogs and guinea pigs. Theextract was injected directly into the arteria coronaria. Intravenousinjection caused no change in the volume of coronary blood flow, butstill showed lowering of peripheral resistance. The blood supply of thecentral nervous system was influenced in the same manner as that ofthe coronary vessels, i.e., the resistance to blood flow was lowered, andfollowing direct injection into the carotid, the blood volume passingthrough was also increased.

Hawthorne increases blood flow

In a series of experiments in dogs, aqueous solutions ofheptahydroxyflavenoglycoside, a component of hawthorn, was used todemonstrate the herb's cardiac and circulatory actions. Intra-arterialinjections 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. Bloodpressure was raised by injection into the a. coronaria dextra andintravenous injection. No changes in urinary excretion and respirationwere found. No definite dose-response relationship could bedetermined because the degree of response was unpredictable.


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Hawthorne successfully destroys experimentally-induced blockade ofanaerobic glycolysis, a condition that typifies some forms of heartdisease cause by enzyme insufficiency.

In patients with chronic cardiac insufficiency, hawthorn has produced aquickening of the heart beat. It increased coronary blood flow byincreasing the cardiac output and by direct influence on the smoothmuscles of the vessels. Arterial and venous blood pressure were notaffected, the EKG was not influenced, and no pulmonary damage wasobserved.

Hawthorn is hypotensive

A fraction of the hawthorn extract, containing flavan polymers, had alow toxicity in the mouse, a pronounced hypotensive activity in the cat,and strong and prolonged cardiotonic action and detoxicating propertiesin the rabbit.

Oligomeric procyanidins isolated from hawthorn extract decrease bloodpressure in cats; in mice, they decreased aggression and bodytemperature, and prolonged hexobarbital narcosis.

Hawthorn versus Digitalis

It was once assumed that hawthorn and digitalis belonged to the sameclass of agents. That hypothesis has been totally refuted by studieswhich demonstrated that hawthorn may partly antagonize theundesirable properties of digitalis. In addition, hawthorn enhances pulseand positively potentiates the force of muscular contractions. Itenhances cardiac output or performance in rats as measured by stressswimming trials. On isolated from heart, it has a tonic and normalizingaction. Unlike digitalis, hawthorn lowers blood pressure through dilationof peripheral vessels, rather than by direct action on the heart. Thus itpreserves critical reflexive blood pressure regulation. In man, hawthornacts even on the healthy heart to increase cardiac activity. Hawthornappears to have less of an immediate effect than digitalis. After longerperiods of use, subjective betterment accompanied by objectivemeasurable improvement in tonus and regulation of cardiac activity areobserved with hawthorn. Unlike digitalis, hawthorn exhibits an absenceof cumulative activity; it appears to occupy a position somewherebetween digitalis and adrenaline.

Heart tissue pretreated with either Hawthorn or Digitalis becomessensitized to the other, so that only about half the normal dose of thesecond is required to obtain normal results. This suggest a synergismbetween the two substances.

Hawthorn has an anabolic effect on metabolism

After 14 hours of abstinence from food, the blood levels of free fattyacids, free glycerol, triglyceride, glucose, lactate, and pyruvate weremeasured 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


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fatty acids and lactate was observed. Glucose and pyruvate alsodecreased, whereas the concentration of triglycerides increased. Theobserved alterations in fat and carbohydrate metabolism suggests thathawthorn has an anabolic effect on metabolism, presumably by aninfluence on the enzymatic system. In this way, a decrease in oxygenand energy consumption would occur.

TOXICITY FACTORS

No toxicity has been attributed directly to hawthorn. However, since itis an active cardiotonic herb, users should exercise extreme cautionwhen combining this herb with other cardiac drugs.

DRUG PRECAUTIONS AND INTERACTIONS

Known Interactions

The effects of hawthorn and digitalis are synergistic, such that only halfthe 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-diarrhealabsorbent suspensions, neomycin, cholestyramine, and other anionicexchange resins. Hawthorn is synergistic with parenteral calcium salts,pancuronium, succinylcholine, rauwolfia alkaloids, ephedrine,epinephrine, and other adrenergic agents. The inotropic action of thisherb may be reduced by propranolol; however, the effect of the twosubstances on AV are additive. Cyclopropane or halogenatedhydrocarbon anesthetics may sensitize the myocardium to thecardiotonic effects of hawthorn, although the chances of this happeningare very low.

Comments

The cardiac alkaloids in hawthorn may antagonize the action ofheparin. Certain drugs induce activity by hepatic microsomal enzymesthat metabolize cardiac glycosides. These agents probably affect theaction of hawthorn, but in an as yet unknown manner. To the extentthat hawthorn's action depends on the presence of cholinergicsubstances, it will be affected by the decrease in cholinergic-receptorstimulation produced by anticholinergics. Drugs utilized to treat anginapectoris, such as nadolol and propanolol HDI, may reduce AVconduction induced by this herb.

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Herbs - Hawthorne (Crataegus Oxyacantha)