The relative effectiveness of Olea europea subsp. africana aqueous leaf extract and of Olea europea subsp. africana 6CH on mild to moderate hypertension

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of Olea europea subsp africana aqueous leaf extract (tincture), 6CH and placebo on mild to moderate hypertension, in order to determine whether any of these forms of Olea europea subsp africana are capable of producing a significant reduction in the systolic or diastolic blood pressures. Patients were screened for mild to moderate hypertension and diagnosed after three successive measurements on three different visits. Once the patients were selected and agreed to take part in the study, they were randomly divided into one of three groups. Group 1 received 6CH Olea europea subsp africana, Group 2 received placebo and Group 3 received the Olea europea subsp africana tincture. The patients were instructed to take twenty drops three times a day for the duration of the research. The patient's blood pressures were recorded every three to four weeks and at each visit three readings were taken and the mean of these three readings was used for analysis. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed no statistically significant difference between the three groups. The Friedman test however showed that all three groups had shown statistically significant improvement in the period of the research. The data was then analysed visually by means of bar charts using the mean levels of the systolic and diastolic readings of each visit. This showed that all the groups showed a decrease in mean blood pressure with Group 1 (6CH) having the greatest systolic drop of 11mmHg systolic and SmmHg diastolic. Group 3 (tincture) had the second largest drop of 9mmHg systolic and SmmHg diastolic where Group 2 (Placebo) showed the smallest drop with a 6mmHg drop in systolic and a 3mmHg drop in diastolic mean blood pressure.