| Disease | IN A RANDOMISED, DOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED, PARALLEL STUDY, IN WHICH PATIENTS WERE STRATIFIED ACCORDING TO PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE, PATIENTS RECEIVED EITHER HAWTHORN/PASSION FLOWER EXTRACT OR PLACEBO. EXERCISE CAPACITY AND IMPROVEMENT IN
SYMPTOMS WERE EVALUATED IN A TOTAL OF 40 PATIENTS AGED 53 TO 86 YEARS, WITH DYSPNOEA COMMENSURATE WITH A NYHA FUNCTIONAL CLASS II. OVER THE 6 WEEK TRIAL PERIOD, THE PATIENTS RECEIVED ORAL DROPS (2 ML) THREE TIMES DAILY. A 6-MINUTE WALKING TEST
AND BICYCLE ERGOMETER TEST WERE CONDUCTED TO ASSESS CHANGES IN EXERCISE CAPACITY. BLOOD LACTATE LEVELS, HEART RATE, AND BLOOD PRESSURE WERE ALSO MEASURED DURING EXERCISE. ALSO RECORDED WERE IMPROVEMENTS IN SYMPTOMS, PARTICULARLY DYSPNOEA, AND
CHANGES IN URINE AND BLOOD BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS. THE RESULTS SHOW THAT EXERCISE CAPACITY, MEASURED IN TERMS OF A WALKING TEST, INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY IN THOSE PATIENTS RECEIVING THE HAWTHORN/PASSION FLOWER EXTRACT (P<0.05, TWO-TAILED TEST).
MAXIMUM EXERCISE CAPACITY MEASURED DURING A BICYCLE ERGOMETER TEST INCREASED BY ABOUT 10% OVER THE BASELINE IN BOTH GROUPS, BUT CHANGES BETWEEN GROUPS DID NOT DIFFER SIGNIFICANTLY. THE SUBJECTIVE SYMPTOM OF BREATHLESSNESS IMPROVED IN BOTH THE
EXTRACT AND PLACEBO GROUPS, BY APPROXIMATELY 40% AND 30% RESPECTIVELY. PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE CAPACITY AT THE AEROBIC TRANSITION THRESHOLD OF 2 MMOL LACTATE/L BLOOD INCREASED BY 6.5% IN THE GROUP RECEIVING THE EXTRACT, WHILE IT FELL BY 4.4% IN THE
PLACEBO GROUP. THIS DIFFERENCE WAS, HOWEVER, NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT (P>0.05). IN THE GROUP RECEIVING THE EXTRACT THERE WAS A SLIGHT BUT SIGNIFICANT FALL IN HEART RATE AT REST AND IN MEAN DIASTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE DURING EXERCISE (P<0.05,
TWO-TAILED TEST). THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN TOTAL PLASMA CHOLESTEROL LEVELS IN THE GROUP RECEIVING THE EXTRACT IN COMPARISON WITH THE PLACEBO GROUP (P<0.01, TWO-TAILED TEST). |