I realize that this is a dated thread. However, the last comment leaves a negative impression about herbal medicines. I have hypertension and an inquisitive and scientific mind and checked out Eric's conclusion that hawthorn is mutagenic. The mutagenic testing in the cited research paper was done with quercetin at 98% minimum purity purchased from Sigma Chemical Co. This study did not look at the many glycosylated forms of quercetin that are very prevalent with hawthorn. There are many publications that explain that hawthorn extract has many medicinal components. One recent summary goes into great detail about hawthorn's 49 distinct flavonoid compounds 5 hydroxycinnamic acids; six sugars; 10 organic or phenolic acids; 26 terpenes; and 56 essential oil constituents. Nature's pharmacy is awe-inspiring! I researched mutagenic testing on the hawthorn extract that is prepared for dosing patients. Sadly, I cannot find published data on the Ames test for hawthorn extract by itself. There is an interesting study where hawthorn is used in combination with valerian and passion flower. This study concludes that there are no harmful effects caused by the herbal mixture. The paper states " this extract does not posess any genotoxic or mutagenicity effect: both the Ames test and the micronuclei test presented negative results". Also, searching Pubmed shows many publications where hawthorn is safe and effective over the long term. I have the impression that Eric _OH dismisses ethnobotanical knowledge is being out of date and primitive. I disagree. I think that many of our ancestors were wise healers and lived long and productive lives with the help of herbal medicines. A 2012 review in Phytochemistry explains that many Indian tribes in numerous First Nations used hawthorn. The Meskwaki, Blackfoot, Ojibwa, Potawatomi, Okanagon, Okanagan-Colville, Iroquois, and Cherokee all used the berries and/or various decoctions of the shoots, roots, and bark of different Crataegus species. The Cherokee and Thompson also used decoctions of the bark as a heart medicine. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), hawthorn fruits are primarily used to improve circulation, remove blood stasis, and treat indigestion, diarrhea, abdominal pain, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension. In Europe, the fruits, leaves, and flowers were traditionally used in the treatment of heart problems for their antispasmodic, cardiotonic, hypotensive, and antiatherosclerotic effects. In summary, it appears to me that hawthorn is a great choice for treating hypertension. I hope to share personal experience once I wean myself off of Metoprolol with the help of my physician.

She was taking a B complex for a while and she may have stopped. She said "the bottle says to take two but I thought more might be better so I take three" -- that's another thing that stands out because she is a retired RN and always was very sensible and conservatibe about taking medications. She was taking a multivitamin for a while, but may have stopped that too. My dad is a health fanatic and tends to nag and correct her when she starts to take vitamins -- "did you take your vitamins?"; "don't take those together...", etc. I told her to take them in private when he's not around, but I suspect she stopped taking them altogether. She makes such a big deal about eating a regular sized meal of moderate portions -- "I can't believe I ate all that!" etc. when everyone else ate the same amount or more. Or she passes around her plate at the table at social functions to share her food, saying how full she already is and "I can't eat all this food!" when everyone else is enjoying their full plate (how do I politely stop her from passing around her plate like that? I wish she would just stop eating and not say anything to bring attention to herself). I don't understand what that's all about, but I think if she is so full with half a plate of food when she hasn't eaten for hours, then she is probably undereating (dieting) and her metabolism has slowed down. But whatever I say will go in one ear and out the other -- especially now that she has successfully lost weight and is thinner than ever. I don't know if she'll ever let any of us do anything for her unless she is totally helpless. Jen

Thank you for taking your time to respond catherinet, agnespuff, and goldy. I am 65 years old female. Yes, I use my own equipment 'OMRON' to check my bp. When doctor checked my bp about week ago, my bp was 130 and he told me it is normal. I was relieved but now my bp is between 160-180 but today, I took for 1 hour walk and few second ago I checked my bp. My bp is 129. I cannot believe it. My pulse is 82, DIA is 79, SYS is 129. I hope I continue to have low bp but I think I start having much higher bp at evening and night. Only thing I needed to lower bp is one hour walking? I am not sure if this much simple or not. If I continue to see bp of over 150,160,170 I am going to see doctor quickly. I am concerned about connection between memory lose and high bp. I know what do you mean goldy. Worry doesn't help us at all and elevate our bp. I just cannot understand why suddenly I forgot how to turn wiper because I was using wiper thousand of times when I was driving in rainy day. Strange part is my dream became reality. I dreamed about my confusion about turning in pool and next day, I experienced exactly what I saw in my dream. I joked with old lady in swimming pool and I said "I am going to drown if I suddenly forget how to swim". When I think about it, it is no laughing matter! I start learning how to swim when I was over 60 years old and I am swimming over 3 years now. I am sorry for my poor English. English is my second language.

I'm female, 5' 7", 125 lbs, my cholesterol levels are great, I eat healthy and work out at a gym daily. My BP was around 105/65 since I was in my twenties. Two years ago (at 52) I got a sore throat with swollen glands so I went to the doctor. My BP had gone up to 175/95 overnight! I know this because I check my heart rate and BP at the gym every day and it was my normal 105/65 the day before I got the sore throat. My throat culture came back positive for strep throat (which my doc said isn't too common among middle age folks) and I was put on antibiotics. The doctor wanted to wait until I'd finished the medication and the strep had cleared to see if my BP went back to normal. Unfortunately, it never did, and I had to be put on BP medication. My doctor thinks the strep throat somehow shocked my system and caused my BP to be permanently altered. On medication (the lowest dose possible) it hovers around my previous 105/65, but if she takes me off that low dose, it shoots right back up again. So I guess I'm on meds for life now. Just wanted to share that it's possible for BP to go haywire with a virus or bacterial infection and be unable to regulate itself back to normal afterwards.