Kim Tien Thao - Herba Desmodii Styracifolii

In human body, the urinary system includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. The kidneys' role is to filter toxins from the blood and make urine. The kidneys also function to maintain the balance of salts and other substances in the body. The kidneys are also the place where the hormone that produces erythrocytes is created. And due to this reason, impaired kidney function will lead to anemia.

Lithiasis is a common disease of the kidney. In people under the age of 70, 5% of females and 7% of males get lithiasis at least one time in their life. The formation of kidney stones in the urinary system is caused when the urine contains more crystal-forming substances, such as calcium, oxalate, and uric acid, than the fluid in your urine can dilute. The stone may be formed in the kidneys or in the urinary tracts. A stone's size may be the same as the grain of sand or even as large as a Ping-Pong ball, with either a smooth or rough surface. The stone seldom causes pain unless it moves from the kidney down through the urinary tract. The pain is caused by a stone, which passes from the bladder, into the ureters, and becomes stuck. As the ureter squeezes the stone towards the bladder, intense pain in the side of your abdomen is felt. The pain may spread down into the lower abdomen or groin and may be intermittent or constant. The experts of occidental medicine call this pain "renal colic". If lithiasis is not treated quickly, it can lead to complications such as an infection of the urinary tract and renal failure due to the obstruction of the urinary tract.

Oriental medicine views "urinary stones" as the result of the wetness and heat-evils of the lower warmer causing improper urination. The concentration of the urine is so high that it creates the stone.

Herba Desmodii Styracifolii is a valuable medicine that has been widely used to treat lithiasis. It is believed that its effectiveness is due to the fact this medicine is cool, able to clear the heat-evils at the lower warmer, promoting diuresis, and expelling the stone. Herba Desmodii Styracifolii is used to treat other diseases such as infection of the urinary tract, nephritis, edema, jaundice due to hepatitis, and gallstones. The benefits of Herba Desmodii Styracifolii also are present in The Pharmacology of Chinese Herbs.

In the view of occidental medicine, through clinic experience, the experts say Herba Desmodii Styracifolii can effectively dissolve calcium oxalate stones less than 6 mm in diameter.