Doctor amongst the hedgerows!

Over the centuries, people with a sound knowledge of the countryside (many of them gypsy or Romany folk) have derived for themselves the benefits of medicines that may be found in herbs and plants amongst our hedgerows.

At this time of the year in our local countryside, we do not have to look far to see an abundance of bright red berries amongst the hawthorn bushes.

Often looked upon by some, who foresaw this being perhaps a sign of hard winter, in a way that these berries would provide ample food for the birds over severely cold periods.

However, few realise that the humble hawthorn is a powerful ally for our own entire hard-working cardiovascular system.

A specialising herbalist reports having received countless testimonials of how it has helped people with a wide range of cardiovascular disorders, including high and low blood pressure, heart palpitations with anxiety, angina and weak veins.

Our heart (so I’m told) beats every second of every day of our lives and, in any day, it pumps over 2,500 gallons of blood through our vast network of arteries and veins, delivering nutrients and removing waste products from our trillions of cells.

I’m also advised that, laid end to end, the blood vessels in your single human body would wrap over two times around the earth!

Hawthorn increases the heart muscles ability to contract while it gently relaxes blood vessels. The effect is that the heart pumps better and has less resistance to pump against.

This is why hawthorn can help raise low blood pressure and reduce high blood pressure. Hawthorn relaxes smooth muscles of the coronary artery walls and allows more blood to flow into the cells of the heart.

This means more oxygen and nutrients are delivered to heart cells and waste products are removed. It is therefore supportive for acute conditions, like angina or pain, due to a lack of oxygen reaching the heart.

According to herbalist Rudolph Weiss, hawthorn is used in Germany for treating early stages of congestive heart failure with diminished cardiac function, a sensation of pressure or anxiety in the heart and mild arrhythmias.

Like other members of the rose family, hawthorn is a gentle astringent. It contains tannins that help to tighten inflamed and irritated tissue. This correlates with its traditional uses, including diarrhea and upset stomach.

CHINESE MEDICINE

Hawthorn fruits and flowers or ‘shan zha’ are also used in Chinese medicine for hypertension, as an astringent, and as a digestive aid for stagnant conditions.

This makes me think about the fact that hawthorn contains soap-like compounds called saponins, which can increase membrane permeability and help break down fats.

Hawthorn is a thorny shrub in the rose family which grows throughout the world. Hawthorn berries have been used to treat heart problems since at least the 1st century, according to researchers at the University of Maryland Medical Centre.

Traditionally, hawthorn berry tea was used to treat heart failure, chest pain, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries. Hawthorn berries - along with the leaves and flowers - are rated a good source of heart-protective antioxidants like oligomeric procyandins and quercetin, which may explain why hawthorn berry tea has such an affinity for heart health.

Also those in the know confirm that hawthorn berry tea was used to relieve angina - or chest pains - associated with congestive heart failure and restricted blood flow to the heart.

While there are, apparently, no scientific studies to date done on the effects of hawthorn berry tea, the berries contain similar flavonoids and other constituents to the leaf and flower, possibly in smaller quantities.

When your arteries dilate, or widen, that can decrease the amount of resistance your blood is met with while flowing through these vessels. This should improve your circulation and lessen the amount of pressure on your arteries from your blood, decreasing the stress placed on your heart and reducing your risk of heart failure, heart attack and stroke.

However, be warned, if you’re considering using this herbal supplement in the treatment of high blood pressure, talk to your doctor. There could be an adverse interaction with a prescription medication you’re using. The interaction may cause the drug to be less effective, increase the risk of bleeding or an abnormally low blood pressure.

Fairness or simplicity

The Home Office, it is reported, is currently reviewing the way policing is funded the settlement received last year is now in question. The NFU considers that it is now more important than ever to particularly support the Police and Crime Commissioners responsible for rural areas to ensure that they do not lose out.

Research, led by Professor Sheena Asthana, says Government thinking relies too heavily on population and crime counts which both favour urban forces.

“The Government’s approach appears to sacrifice fairness in pursuit of simplicity,” she said adding: “We think a fresh start is needed and that any new approach needs to use a different methodology and draw on different data if it is to achieve a fair system for distributing funds.”

Her report entitled ‘Fair Funding for Rural Policing’ also argues that rural areas face additional burdens that should be factored into funding: Rural forces often have often to ‘plug the gap’ left by other services such as health and social care whose services can be stretched in isolated areas.

Additional responsibilities linked to people with mental health difficulties are particularly noticeable, especially with regard to dementia and missing person cases due to elderly populations.

Rural forces have to shoulder the cost of significantly higher round-trip distances when attending incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour as well as to road traffic incidents.

As rural forces tend to have lower officer numbers, the burden per officer is up to 65 per cent higher than for forces nationally, representing an additional challenge for delivering services as well as posing risks to officer and staff welfare.

Rural forces, not least in Pembrokeshire, with coastal areas and tourist attractions such as National Parks, experience larger seasonal variations in incidents of crime, ASB and road traffic incidents due to influxes of holidaymakers.

A police spokesperson confirmed: “Demands on rural forces differ to those on urban forces and a funding formula is needed that reflects that variation and provides for such differing requirements.

“Above all, the important thing is for all forces to feel confident that the funding they receive is fair and reflects underlying need rather than a crude calculation that is loaded in favour of urban areas.”

Innovative

As consumers have moved away from sugar and toward natural ingredients, one of the leading producers of dairy items say flavoured yogurt has positioned itself as a ‘health snack for conscious consumers’ as its new product launches are driving the market’s revenue.

They say: “Recent growth in yogurt and yogurt drinks has been driven by innovation in flavour combinations, probiotic combinations, and packaging - for instance, strained yoghurt is marketed as either fat-free or low fat and free from preservatives, artificial flavours, and sweeteners, and is made with naturally sourced ingredients. Similarly, some other yogurt drinks are a marketed as cholesterol - lowering with claims that drinking one bottle per day contains just the right amount of plant stanols proven to lower cholesterol.”

Drinkable yogurt is also taking on savory flavours, such as beetroot, carrot and tomato! Consumers have also been more willing to try new things, even artificial sweeteners like stevia, in their drinkable yogurt.

Tricky

Scribblers (such as I) have often had problems with grammar and an example such as bring and take both describe transporting something or someone from one place to another, but the correct usage depends on the speaker’s point of view. Somebody brings something to you, but you take it to somewhere else: “Bring me the mail, then take your shoes to your room.”

Just remember, if the movement is toward you, use bring; if the movement is away from you, use take (or so I was often reminded!).

English grammar can be tricky, and, a lot of times, the words that sound right are actually wrong. With words such as those above, you just have to memorise the rules so that when you are about to use them, you’ll catch yourself in the act and know for certain that you’ve written or said the right one.