Cystone

Ingredients:

Shilapushpa (Didymocarpus pedicellata R. Br.) leaves
Pasanabheda (Saxifraga ligulataWall.) root
Rough chaff tree (Achyranthes aspera L.) seed
Indian madder (Rubia cordifolia L.) root
Ash-colored fleabane (Vernonia cinerea [L.] Less.) whole
Umbrella’s edge (Cyperus scariosus R. Br.) tuber
Sedge (Onosma bracteatumWall.) aerial parts
Mineral pitch


Cystone® tablets contain a combination of seven herbal extracts
and mineral pitch, a total of 540 mg per tablet. Current labels suggest
a dose of one to two tablets twice daily, for a total quantity of 1.08 to
2.16 g per day. Cystone is manufactured by The Himalaya Drug
Company in India, and distributed in the United States by Himalaya
USA. Cystone is also available under the name UriCare®. The current
Cystone product label lists the ingredients indicated previously.
The material used in the clinical study had the same name, but contained
an additional ingredient: Hajrul yahood bahsma.



Cystone is an herbal formula tested in the treatment of kidney and
bladder stones. Urinary tract stones form in the bladder and kidney.
Human urine is saturated with calcium oxalate, uric acid, and phosphates
that normally remain in solution. However dehydration, urinary
stasis, pH changes, foreign bodies, and infection can lead to the
formation of stones. Stones are hard buildups of mineral composed
mostly of calcium salts, uric acid, or struvite (phosphate of magnesium
and ammonia). Treatment depends upon differentiation between
the various stone types as well as recognition and control of
any underlying metabolic diseases or structural abnormalities of the
urinary tract (Pizzorno and Murray, 1999).

Kidney stones

Kidney and Bladder Stones

The effect of Cystone on patients with kidney and bladder stones
(nephroureterolithiasis) was studied in a four-arm, open, clinical trial
including 100 participants. Two groups were given Cystone (two tablets
three times daily) and either encouraged to drink plenty of liquids
or given forced diuresis (intravenous liquids). Two control groups
were given antispasmodics and also either encouraged to drink plenty
of fluids or given forced diuresis. In the Cystone treatment groups, 76
and 80 percent, respectively, of participants were able to pass their
stones over a period of one to six months and thereby avoid surgery.
In the control groups given antispasmodics, only 20 and 28 percent,
respectively, were able to avoid surgery (Misgar, 1982). However,
due to poor methodological flaws, including the lack of characterization
of the size of the kidney and bladder stones in the various treatment
groups, our reviewers, Drs. Elliot Fagelman and Franklin Lowe,
found the benefit to be undetermined.


No adverse effects were reported in a clinical trial in which 50 subjects
were given two tablets three times daily for six months.