Uva ursi uses have ranged through the medicinal for nearly 2,000 years mostly for the use in bladder and urinary tract infections.
Herbs have played an important part in medicinal history and were often considered the go-to remedies before modern medicine. This was certainly true of the herb, uva ursi. Until the discovery of sulfa drugs and antibiotics, uva ursi was a common treatment for bladder and related infections. It is listed in nearly all Pharmacopceias, and its medicinal use can be traced back to the 2nd century.
Uva ursi is commonly referred to as bearberry, because bears enjoy eating the plant’s fruit. For natural health purposes, however, only the leaves, not the berries, are used in herbal medicine.
