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The Eclectic Use of Hawthorn, a Cardiotonic Herb, to Reverse Coronary Heart Disease: Opinion from Prominent Doctors
Hawthorn (Crataegus) was first described as an important heart remedy in an article by Doctor J. C. Jennings, published in a 1896 issue of the New York Medical Journal. Doctor Jennings and others of the group of American physicians known as the Eclectics, have used its preparations to treat cardiac troubles such as weak heartbeat and angina. Dr. Jennings wrote about his experience:
"...and have used it to the present on forty-three patients suffering with various forms of heart disease, and I must say with the most gratifying results... From these results my deductions are that Crataegus Oxyacantha is superior to any other of the well know and tried remedies at present in use in the treatment of heart disease, because it seems to cure while the other remedies are only palliative at best."
These beneficial effects were confirmed by Dr. Clarke, a homeopathic physician, that have treated with Crataegus one hundred and eighteen patients suffering with various forms of heart disease (1, 2, 3,4).
Hawthorn was used clinically both in United States and Europe in the first half of this century as a cardiac tonic for the treatment of heart disease. Modern scientific investigations of the herb did not begin until the 1960s. Clinical studies have found that standardized extracts show promise as adjunctive agents for the treatment of left ventricular dysfunction. Other trials consistently demonstrate its ability to improve exercise tolerance and symptoms of mild to moderate heart failure (5). It is considered so safe that it is sometimes prescribed concurrently with heart medications such as digitalis.
Today the Hawthorn preparations for the treatment of heart disease are widely recognized and extensively used in many countries of Europe and Asia such as France, England, Germany, Russia and China.
In his book Herbal Medicine of 1989 (6), the German doctor and professor Rudolf Fritz Weiss recommends Crataegus for all forms of degenerative heart disease, giving the following clinical indications:
Professor Weiss adds the following suggestions at his book:
In US the use of Hawthorn to reverse coronary heart disease is receiving the endorsement by at least 2 famous physicians: Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Julian Whitaker.
Doctor Andrew Weil, formed in Harvard School of Medicine, is the Director of the Program in Integrative Medicine and clinical professor of internal medicine at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Also he is the founder of the Foundation for Integrative Medicine and editor-in-chief of the professional journal Integrative Medicine. About conventional treatment and the use of Hawthorn to reverse coronary heart disease Dr. Weil says (7):
“Angina, or angina pectoris (Latin for "pain in the chest"), is a common symptom of coronary insufficiency that is distressing, disabling, and frequently predictive of heart attacks. The primary problem is narrowing of the coronary arteries by atherosclerosis so that the heart muscle does not receive enough oxygen when demands on it are high. Coronary artery spasm may also play a role. Anginal pain usually begins during exertion or after eating and subsides with rest. Conventional medicine treats it with drugs that dilate arteries (nitroglycerin, nitrites, nitrates) or reduce the workload of the heart (beta-blockers, calcium-channel blockers). These are symptomatic treatments that do not change the underlying problem, and all are strong drugs with the potential to harm. The other standard approaches are angioplasty and coronary bypass surgery, very expensive, drastic procedures that may provide temporary relief but do not halt progression of disease. An alternative to the strong medical drugs is an herbal preparation made from the berries of a species of hawthorn tree, Crataegus oxycantha. Hawthorn increases coronary flow and is much less toxic than the pharmaceuticals in current use.”
Doctor Julian Whitaker, formed in Emory School of Medicine, is the director of the Whitaker Wellness Institute, in Newport Beach, California, and the editor of its monthly newsletter Health & Healing, with more than a half-million subscribers. Dr. Whitaker has this to say on conventional treatment and the use of Hawthorn to reverse coronary heart disease (8):
“As with many health conditions, conventional medicine offers heart disease patients only two options: prescription drugs and surgery. In fact, the first line of conventional treatment generally involves medications to relieve chest pain: beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, and nitroglycerin. While these medications may suppress the symptoms of heart disease, none of them addresses the underlying problem, and all have significant negative side effects. When drugs fail -- as they often do -- cardiologists pull out the big guns: bypass surgery and balloon angioplasty. Although patients with advanced heart disease frequently are told that bypass surgery is ultimately the only "orthodox" treatment option, three major scientific studies have found that patients treated with medicine did just as well as those who endured bypass surgery. In fact, in a ten-year follow-up of the patients in one study, 75 percent of bypass patients were actually doing worse than patients simply treated with heart medications. Balloon angioplasty is a surgical procedure in which a balloon catheter is fed through a blood vessel and then inflated to compress an obstruction against the vessel wall, widening the vessel. Though angioplasty may seem like a "minor" procedure compared to bypass surgery, it is not without risk. One in 65 patients undergoing angioplasty dies from the procedure. In fact, the average death rate for people who receive angioplasty is four times greater than the annual death rate of even the "best" candidates for angioplasty -- meaning that the therapy can be four times as deadly as the disease. The one thing you're not likely to hear from a conventional doctor is that you can actually treat heart disease yourself -- safely and more effectively than with drugs and surgery.”
In Dr. Whitaker nutritional supplement program to reverse heart disease he includes the prescription of Hawthorn. He tells:
“Hawthorn works to lessen the strain on the heart by helping dilate blood vessels and strengthen the beat – help to maintain healthy circulation and heart function facilitating normal pumping action”
Note: Cardio-active herbs like hawthorn have an observably beneficial action on the heart and blood vessels but how they work was until recently completely obscure. Moreover, the cardio-tonics use to reverse coronary heart disease do not receive support from Conventional medicine that follows Herrick’s Thrombogenic Theory. On the other side its use is scientifically compatible with a new explanation for the origin of myocardial infarction supported by Infarct Combat Project. For details see at: http://www.infarctcombat.org/MyogenicTheory.html
References: 1. Hawthorn, Steven Foster, 2000 (monograph) 2. Hearts and Hawthorn, Hedley C. Humours. Eur J Herbal Med, 2001 3. The History of Hawthorn as a Heart Remedy, Nov 27, 2002 (HerbClip) 4. Hawthorn: A literature Review, Steven Foster and Christopher Hobbs, Herbalgram. 1990;22:19 - American Botanical Council. 5. Herbal Medicine, Weiss R F, Stuttgart, Hippokrates Verlag GmbH. Reprinted in English by Beaconsfield, England,Beaconsfield Publishers, Ltd, 1988 6. Hawthorn, Fong HH and Bauman JL. J Cardiovasc Nurs. Jul 2002;16(4):1-8 7. Doctor Andrew Weil (website) 8. Doctor Julian Whitaker (website)
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