Herbal Healing with Hawthorn

Hawthorn is also known by some other names such as crataegus. Hawthorn gets its name from its Latin name Crataegus species and it is part of the Rosaceae or rose family. Hawthorn is a thorny deciduous tree that grows to be about twenty-five feet tall. Hawthorn bears small white blossoms that have five petals and bloom in the late spring that give way to red berries in the late summer. Among researchers there is a considerable debate about which parts of the hawthorn have the greatest medicinal value.

Fresh and dried berries, fresh and dried flowering tops, dried flowers, dried leaves and dried flowers and leaves combined are all beneficial but the flowers and leaves are the most useful in heart conditions. There are many species of hawthorn that are used in herbal medicine. Crataegus laevigata, Crataegus oxyacantha and Crataegus monogyna are commonly used in Europe and the United States.

Crataegus sinaica also known as Japanese hawthorn is used by practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Hawthorn contains compounds that support the heart and circulatory system. It is most often used to protect against mild arrhythmia, the beginning stages of heart disease, mild heart muscle weakness and for pressure and tightness of the chest. It also works great for speeding the recovery of a heart attack. Hawthorn has some specific benefits for treating health conditions that include the following:

Alzheimer's disease and memory loss - hawthorn has long been used in eastern medicine for treating age related forms of memory problems. There are two ways in which the herb works that have been identified by researchers; one is through its effects on cholesterol since fewer and smaller plaques in the arteries supplying the brain means that more blood reaches the brain's tissue.

Two, is through its high content of both vitamin C and substances that assist the tiny capillaries in the brain especially when these vessels are under stress from high blood pressure or microscopic blood clots. Did you know that open capillaries means that more nutrients and oxygen reaches the brain?