Pycnogenol® May Ease Blood Clots

Pycnogenol^® May Ease Blood Clots

HILLSIDE, N.J.--French maritime pine bark extract has been shown to reduce symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency (deep vein clot), such as swelling in the lower legs, reddening of the skin, pain and cramps. The study, which was printed in the online edition of Phytotherapy Research (16, S1:1-5, 2002) (www.interscience.wiley.com), compared the efficacy of horse chestnut seed extract (as Venostasin®, manufactured by Germany-basedKlinge) to French maritime pine bark extract (as Pycnogenol®, distributed by Natural Health Science in Hillside, N.J.) for reducing the symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency. In an open, controlled study, 40 patients were treated with either 600 mg/d of chestnut seed extract or 360 mg/d of pine bark extract for four weeks. The pine bark extract was deemed superior to chestnut seed extract because it significantly reduced the circumference of the lower limbs, as well as reduced cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein(LDL) levels in the blood. Chestnut seed extract moderately reduced the circumference of the lower limbs and marginally improved symptoms as well, although it had no influence on cholesterol.