Is Cystone effective against UTI (urinary tract infection)?
Background:
The vet prescribed Cystone and Tavanic for my dog's UTI. I personally had issues with medicines labeled as herbal—like Cystone—in the past. What stood out is that it had no pamphlet with side effects, etc.
I couldn't find it on drugs.com either, only found it on Amazon.
I'm seeing the vet again soon and would like to know more before the visit.
It's a herbal 'supposedly' ayurvedic medicine made by a pretty big supplement manufacturer who also has a sideline in veterinary products.
Apparently there were human trials and they were inconclusive
This short term study does not suggest that Cystone® affects those urinary chemistries commonly measured and known to influence calcium oxalate stone formation, nor does decrease renal calcium stone burden over a 1 year period. It is possible elements of the urine were affected that are not typically measured (e.g., glycoprotein inhibitors). A longer term study with more patients would be necessary to detect changes in stone events or enhanced stone passage, or effects on other stone types. In any new study of Cystone, the botanical authenticity of each individual herb will need to be documented by the manufacturer using high pressure liquid chromatography. This short term trial failed to find evidence that Cystone® prevents kidney stone formation and growth in recurrent calcium oxalate stone formers.
Erickson SB, Vrtiska TJ, Lieske JC. Effect of Cystone® on Urinary Composition and Stone Formation Over a One Year Period. Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology. 2011;18(10):863-867. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2011.01.018.
I also found a list of the herbs it contains on Himalaya's website
Didymocarpus pedicellata
Bergenia ligulata
Tribulus terrestris
Oddly some of these might have an effect on their own in studies - this came up searching for Didymocarpus but this is in a test tube apparently.
I'd say it's inconclusive - and it feels a little like something that's given as a 'complimentary' medicine rather than something that's proven to work.
