Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 2006; 11: 13–4
In traditional European medicine, rose hip and seed have been used for a variety of disorders, including urinary tract irrigation for inflammation or calculi as well as for leg oedema. In rats, a 10% rose hip infusion had no diuretic effect. This pilot study provides preliminary information on the effect of rose hip and seed powder on blood pressure in humans.
A project investigating the effect of Litozin (rose hip and seed powder) in chronic low back pain was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Freiburg. A subgroup of patients was invited to self-measure their blood pressure, if possible, in the morning and evening, with a data-storing device (Boso-medicus PC-Bosch + Sohn GmbH u. Co KG, Jungingen). Self-measurements were begun 1 week prior to the start of Litozin (5 or 10 g daily with 1.5 or 3 mg galactolipid, respectively) and thereafter, during weeks 2, 4 and 6.
Nineteen men and 36 women [age 59.6 ± 11.5 years, BMI 27.1 ± 5.6 kg/m2 (mean ± SD)] were included. Thirty of them received 5 g and 25 received 10 g of Litozin daily. Fourteen patients took concomitant antihypertensive medications (AHM). There were no significant changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressures or heart rates during the 7-week observation period. Neither sex, nor the dose of Litozin or the use of AHM affected that result.
In the usual dose for the treatment of chronic pain, rose hip and seed powder administered over 6 weeks had no effect on blood pressure or heart rate.
