Crataegus in Heart Disorders of the Aged.

It is really gratifying how many of the cases of heart disease in very old people are satisfactorily relieved with crataegus. A case is reported in The Medical Century, where digitalis was given as long as the stomach could stand it; where squills helped to restore only for a time; where apocynum was vomited up, and cactus did no good. By this time the dropsy of the lower limbs was complete, and the abdominal cavity was filling. Breathing was difficult and the amount of urine was reduced to half a pint a day.

At this time four drops of crataegus in a teaspoonful of water was given every three hours. Improvement soon set in, and in two weeks the dropsy was gone. However, the good effects of the remedy did not remain; after a few weeks all the unpleasant symptoms returned, and later were not benefited by this remedy. The author attributed this to the probable fact that. the degeneration of the heart muscle was so far advanced that permanent normal function was impossible.

Ellingwood's Therapeutist, Vol. 2, 1908, was edited by Finley Ellingwood M.D.