The benefits of hawthorn for a healthy heart

 Christopher Hobbs writes that he has a special affection for hawthorn because it helped his father strengthen his heart after a heart attack more than two decades ago.

 "The extract of hawthorn can increase blood flow to the heart muscle itself, helping to counteract one of the most common modern causes of death in industrial countries heart attack due to lack of blood flow to the heart."
Sudden failure

A team of German and US researchers recently tested a hawthorn extract in a trial that included more than 1,440 patients with congestive heart failure.

Writing in the European Journal of Heart Failure, the researchers note that hawthorn preparations have been used for centuries in Europe, but their use as a complementary treatment, as an "add-on" with drug treatment, has never been studied.

Subjects received either 900 mg of hawthorn per day, or a placebo, for two years.

Researchers found that the average time to first cardiac event was statistically the same: an average of 620 days for hawthorn, against 606 days for placebo. There was also no statistical difference in mortality rates between the two groups.

But one measure stood out. The researchers write that hawthorn extract "can potentially reduce the incidence of sudden cardiac death, at least in patients with less compromised left ventricular function."

The left ventricle is the lower chamber of the heart that pumps blood to the rest of the body. This function is typically impaired in heart failure patients.

Improvements all around

In a previous study, more than 200 patients with chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) were divided into three groups to receive either 900 mg or 1,800 mg of hawthorn extract daily, or placebo.

After 16 weeks, maximum exercise tolerance increased significantly in the high-dose group compared to the other two groups, and heart failure symptoms improved in both of the extract groups, but not the placebo group. In an 18-month follow up assessment, patients who were taking the extract had a 20 per cent reduced risk of CHF-related death compared to placebo

 Researchers found that adding hawthorn as a complementary treatment along with conventional CHF treatments, significantly improved exercise tolerance, maximal workload, fatigue, and pressure-heart rate product (an index of cardiac oxygen consumption).

Adverse side effects were described as "infrequent, mild, and transient."

Western herbalists primarily use hawthorn for treatment of heart disease; this application has been adopted by Chinese herbalists as well. In ancient times, the Chinese herbalists mainly used crataegus (shanzha) to improve digestion; for the past thirty years, Western applications of crataegus have been verified by Chinese researchers and added to its list of applications in Chinese medicine. Numerous Chinese formulations now incorporate the herb for strengthening heart function, lowering blood lipids, and dilating blood vessels to promote blood circulation.

Crataegus for blocked arteries in Homepathic
A proven thing for blocked arteries is Crataegus Q or the saturated juice of hawthorne berries. Those who can not find Crataegus Q can make it at home.

On all Chinese or Korean stores dried Hawthorne berries are available inexpensively. I bought 2 pounds of berries for just $1.99.

I suggest following way to make Crataegus Q

Soak the berries in lukewarm water for half hour so that all preservatives, if any - dissolve off in the water.

Drain off the water and put wet berries in water + any cheap liquor, vodka or whiskey etc. (Half water half liquor) By each day liquor will contain more juice from the berries.

Take two spoonfuls of that liquid twice a day. When liquid is almost finished and you feel there is still juice in the berries you can add more water + liquor. Or you can make new batch.