Cancer Treatment Side Effects & Supportive and Palliative Care
Hawthorne berry extract for Cardiotoxicity
Chemotherapy can sometimes cause heart muscle weakness that leads to congestive heart failure (CHF). A recent meta-analysis of randomized, double-blind, and placebo controlled studies that used hawthorn leaf and flower extract mono-preparations in patients with heart failure. A total of 14 trials met all inclusion criteria and were included in the review. In most of the studies, hawthorn was used as an adjunct to conventional treatment. Ten trials including 855 patients with chronic heart failure (New York Heart Association classes I to III) provided data that were suitable for meta-analysis. For the physiologic outcome of maximal workload, treatment with hawthorn extract was more beneficial than placebo. Exercise tolerance was significantly increased by hawthorn extract and the pressure-heart rate product, an index of cardiac oxygen consumption, also showed a beneficial decrease with hawthorn treatment. Symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue improved significantly with hawthorn treatment as compared with placebo. The authors concluded that results suggest that there is a significant benefit in symptom control and physiologic outcomes from hawthorn extract as an adjunctive treatment for chronic heart failure.
Safety
Reported adverse events of hawthorn extract are rare, mild, and transient, and include nausea, dizziness, and cardiac and gastrointestinal complaints.
Recommendation
Naturopathic physicians frequently use Hawthorne berries extract to treat chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity. While there are no trials yet reported on the use of Hawthorne berries extract to treat chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity, data available on the use of use of Hawthorne berries extract to treat non-cancer patients with CHF is compelling enough to consider it for use in cancer patients.
References - Hide References
- Pittler MH, Guo R, Ernst E. Hawthorn extract for treating chronic heart failure. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008 Jan 23;(1):CD005312.