This is Starwest's nitrogen-flushed double wall silverfoil pack.

Used as an infusion, decoction, extract, tincture and douche.

Kinnikinnick, Bearberry. Traditionally smoked by many Northwest Indians as an inebriant.

Bearberry is also traditionally used as a medicinal tea, to treat inflammations of the urinary tract, especially cystitis. Uva ursi contains arbutin, an effective urinary antiseptic.

The 1997 Commission E on Phytotherapy and Herbal Substances of the German Federal Institute for Drugs recommends Uva ursi leaf for 'Inflammatory disorders of the efferent urinary tract.'

'Preparations made from bearberries act antibacterially in vitro against Proteus vulgaris, E. coli, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma hominis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aerginosa, Friedländer's pneumonia, Enterococcus faecalis, and Streptococcus strains, as well as against Candida albicans. The antimicrobial effect is associated with the aglycone hydroquinone released from arbutin (transport form) or arbutin waste products in the alkaline urine. A methanol extract of the drug (50 percent) is said to have an inhibiting effect on tyrosinase activity. The forming of melanin from DOPA using tyrosinase as well as from DOPA-CHROM through auto-oxidation is also said to be inhibited by the drug.'

Contraindications: Pregnancy, lactation, children under 12. Side Effects: Nausea and vomiting may occur in persons with sensitive stomachs. The occurrence of arbutin/hydroquinone in the breast milk has not been researched. The drug, therefore, should not be administered during lactation.

'Single dose: 3 g drug to 150 ml water as an infusion or cold maceration or 100 - 210 mg hydroquinone derivatives, calculated as water-free arbutin. Daily dose: 3 g drug to 150 ml water as an infusion or cold maceration up to 4 times a day or 400 - 840 mg hydroquinone derivatives calculated as water-free arbutin. Mode of Administration: Crushed drug. Drug powder for infusions or cold macerations; extracts and solid forms for oral administration. Medication containing arbutin should not be taken for longer than a week or more than five times a year without consulting a physician.'

In Germany, uva ursi leaf is licensed as a standard medicinal tea, used as a single herb and a component of many bladder and kidney teas. The German Standard License for uva ursi medicinal tea indicates its use as support in the therapy of mild infections of the urinary tract, as does the British Herbal Compendium and the European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy.

Grieve's classic 'A Modern Herbal': 'In consequence of the powerful astringency of the leaves, Uva-Ursi has a place not only in all the old herbals, but also in the modern Pharmacopoeias. There are records that it was used in the thirteenth century by the Welsh 'Physicians of Myddfai.' It was described by Clusius in 1601, and recommended for medicinal use in 1763 by Gerhard of Berlin and others. It had a place in the London Pharmacopoeia for the first time in 1788, though was probably in use long before. It is official in nearly all Pharmacopceias, some of which use the name Arbutus.'

'The usual form of administration is in the form of an infusion, which has a soothing as well as an astringent effect and marked diuretic action. Of great value in diseases of the bladder and kidneys, strengthening and imparting tone to the urinary passages. The diuretic action is due to the glucoside Arbutin, which is largely absorbed unchanged and is excreted by the kidneys. During its excretion, Arbutin exercises an antiseptic effect on the urinary mucous membrane: Bearberry leaves are, therefore, used in inflammatory diseases of the urinary tract, urethritis, cystisis, etc.'

'Besides the simple infusion (1 oz. of the leaves to 1 pint of boiling water), the combination of ½ oz. each of Uva-Ursi, Poplar Bark and Marshmallow root, infused in 1 pint of water for 20 minutes is used with advantage.'

King's 1898 Dispensatory: 'The effects of this medicine depend entirely on its stimulant, astringent, and tonic powers, though, in the smaller doses, it tends to relieve chronic irritation of the bladder.'

'As an astringent, it is applicable to all the purposes for which astringents are used, as in chronic diarrhoea and dysentery, menorrhagia, diabetes, enuresis, etc. In chronic a affections of the kidneys and urinary passages, it is frequently useful; in vesical catarrh, chronic gonorrhoea, strangury, leucorrhoea, and excessive mucous and bloody discharges with the urine. Its tannic acid becomes oxidized and converted into gallic and pyrogallic acids, and humus-like substances, which communicate a dark color to the urine.'

'Dose of powdered uva ursi, 10 to 60 grains; of the decoction, 1 to 3 fluid ounces, made by boiling 1 ounce of uva ursi with 1½ pints of distilled water down to 1 pint; of the extract, 5 to 15 grains; of the tincture, 6 to 30 drops.'

American Materia Medica,1919 (Ellingwood): 'Uva ursi has long been in general use as a diuretic and sedative to the general urinary apparatus. It exercises both an astringent and tonic influence also, and it is prescribed when there are calculi present.'

'Its direct influence is upon relaxed conditions of the bladder walls, to which it imparts tone and induces normal contraction. It restrains excessive mucous discharges.'

'It is curative in ulceration of the bladder wall, in cystitis, in pyelitis and in pyelonephritis. It is of much benefit also in the general treatment of gonorrhea. It has been prescribed with much confidence in diabetes, in which condition its influence is more general than specific. It exercises a soothing influence upon the urinary apparatus, and for that reason, is a common constituent of very many prescriptions for diseased conditions of these organs.'