Whole bigger than sum of its parts
Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi or Uva ursi) is a shrub of the Ericaceae family that grows to a height of 50cm on moors and heaths in North America, Europe and Eurasia. It has low, flexible stems, which contain evergreen lobe-shaped leaves, and is covered in pink urn-shaped flowers in spring, that are followed by bright red berries in autumn.
The plant takes its generic name from the Greek words, arktos meaning bear and staphyle meaning grapes; ergo, bearberry. The Greeks claim that bears are very fond of the plant.
The main chemical constituents are hydroquinones, principally arbutin, iridoids and flavanoids. This makes the plant a diuretic, urinary antiseptic, astringent, haemostatic and oxytocic. Bearberry is mainly associated with urinary tract problems such as cystitis, painful micturition, urethritis, blood in the urine, urinary retention and bed-wetting; in addition, some herbalists favour it as a treatment for dysentery, diarrhoea and oedema of the legs and face.
This herb is an interesting example of the whole plant being more effective than an isolated chemical part. Most pharmaceutical research had centred on arbutin, to such an extent that the major drug companies marketed it as a major urinary antiseptic and diuretic. It is now recognised that the activity of arbutin is less than that of the total plant. To be active, arbutin must be absorbed intact through the intestine, but the bacteria in the gut breaks down the chemical and reduces its efficacy; however, if the whole plant is given, compounds present in the herb prevent this happening and it converts the urine to a condition where the antibiotic arbutin can work most effectively. Other compounds from Bearberry are used to treat gravel and kidney and bladder stones.
Early American settlers used the oxytocic effect of the herb to hasten childbirth.
The native Americans used the root of the plant as a scurvy cure and smoked the aerial parts during their ceremonies. The leaves also yield a dye which was used to colour fabrics and as a war-paint.
Next week pokeroot
