Alternative Therapies for Urinary Tract Infections

Therapy	Best Evidence *	Probably Useful †	Least Evidence ‡
Herbals		Cranberry juice 0.5 L/day, 400 mg/b.i.d of extract; blueberry juice 0.25 L/day	Uva ursi 3–5 ml tincture, 100–250 mg t.i.d. (as arbutin in herbal extract) (requires alkaline urine—potassium or sodium citrate, .5 tsp sodium bicarbonate, Alka Seltzer); garlic 300 mg t.i.d., 1–4 cloves/day; goldenseal 250–300 mg t.i.d. std extract, 3–4 g/day root caps, tabs, tincture; sandalwood oil 1–2 drops t.i.d.; herbal diuretic teas: asparagus, birch, couch grass, horsetail, Java tea, juniper lovage, spiny restharrow, nettle, parsley: 1–3 tsp (5–15 g) steeped for 15 min and taken t.i.d.
Diet and Nutrition/Lifestyle	Drink large amounts of low-sugar juices, water, other fluids (>2 L/day); urinate after intercourse (women); eliminate obstruction.		Identify and eliminate food allergies in recurrent infections; vitamin C 5 g/day; vitamin A 25,000 IU/day; beta-carotene 200,000 IU/day; zinc 30 mg/day; bromelain; multivitamins.
Alternative Systems of Care		Ayurveda; traditional Chinese medicine.	Homeopathy: cantharis 30C t.i.d. for 2 days; sepia 30C t.i.d. for 2 days; belladonna 6C q 2 hr up to 6 doses; staphysagria 12C t.i.d. for 2 days; nux vomica q 2 hr up to 6 doses.

^*Therapies with the highest degree of scientific support for efficacy and safety.
^†Therapies that are often helpful but that do not have the highest degree of supporting evidence for efficacy and safety.
^‡Therapies that may be useful but that have limited scientific evidence for efficacy and safety.
NOTE: C denotes the number of times that a substance is diluted at a ratio of 1:100.
SOURCE: Sierpina, VS: Integrative Health Care: Complementary and Alternative Therapies for the Whole Person, F.A. Davis, Philadelphia, 2000.