"The cardiovascular effects 'of hawthorn berry, include] the ability to increase the integrity of the of the blood vessel wall and improve coronary blood flow....

"The recommended daily dose of hawthorn is 160-900 milligrams of extract of the leaves of flowers administered in two or three doses .... Hawthorn has shown promise in the treatment of N.Y. Heart Assn .... congestive heart failure in....clinical trials.

"At therapeutic dosages 'high end of number stated above] hawthorn may cause a mild rash, headache, sweating, dizziness, 'etc.] and gastrointestinal symptoms. Hawthorn may interact with vasodilating medications 'such as coumadin brand of warfarin and aspirin] and may 'increase] or inhibit the actions of drugs used for heart failure, hypertension, angina, and 'irregular heart beat.]"1.

"Procyanidins 'in hawthorn, blueberry & strawberry] caused ....'beneficial] aorta relaxation in animal tests.2.

"Hawthorn fruit extract has been shown to have many health benefits including being cardiovascular protective, 'and reducing blood pressure and lowering harmful cholesterol]. ....The present 'beneficial] results 'of our tests]....suggest that part of the 'heart and blood vessel protection] is due to 'its anti-oxidant activity] and its maintaining the concentration of 'vitamin E] in human 'blood components.]" 3.

"'Our] results suggest that....'hawthorn] inhibits cholesterol absorption...." 4.

"....'our analysis of the tests with 36 human subjects with mild high blood pressure....] '....resulted in] a promising reduction in the resting diastolic blood pressure at week 10 in the 19 subjects who were assigned the hawthorn extract, compared with the other groups." (Emphases added.) 5.

"The antiviral and antioxidant activity of some extracts....from 'hawthorn]....exhibited significant inhibitory activity against herpes simplex virus type l. 6. (Emphasis added.)

Hawthorn for Heart Disease, Herpes Bibliography

1 By Drs. Rigelsky & Sweet, McGuire Vet. Affairs Med. Ctr., Richmond, VA, pub. In Amer. J. Health Systems, vol. 59, 2002.

2 Drs. Kim, Kang, Kim & Kim, College of Pharmacy, Seoul Nat'l. U., Korea. pub. in Life Sciences, vol. 67, 2000.

3 Drs. Zhang, Chang, Zhu, et al, Dept. of Biochemistry, Chinese U. of Hong Kong, Shatin, China, pub. in J. Nutritional Biochem., vol. 12, 2001.

4 Drs. Zhang, Ho, Huang, et al, Dept. of Biochemistry, Chinese U. of Hong Kong, pub. in Journal of Nutrition, vol. 132, 2002.

5 Drs. Walker, Markis, Morris & Robinson, School of Food Biosciences, U. of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AP, UK. Pub. in Phytotherapy, vol. 16, 2002.

6 Drs. Shahat, Cos, De Bruyne, Apers, Hoummouda, et al, no affiliation given. Pub. in Planta Med., vol. 68, 2002.