Bilberry leaf (Myrtilli folium)

Hei­del­beer­blät­ter

Name of Drug

Myr­til­li foli­um, bil­ber­ry leaf, blueber­ry leaf.

Composition of Drug

Bil­ber­ry leaf con­sists of the leaf of Vac­ci­ni­um myrt­il­lus L. [Fam. Eri­caceae], as well as pre­pa­ra­ti­ons thereof.

Uses

Bil­ber­ry leaf is used for dia­be­tes mel­li­tus, for the pre­ven­ti­on and tre­at­ment of dise­a­ses and com­plaints of the gas­tro­in­testi­nal tract, kid­ney and uri­na­ry tract, for arthri­tis, gout, der­ma­ti­tis, hemor­rhoi­ds, poor cir­cu­la­ti­on, func­tion­al heart pro­blems, as well as for “meta­bo­lic sti­mu­la­ti­on and blood purification.”

The effi­ca­cy of the clai­med uses has not been documented.

Risks

With hig­her dosa­ges or on pro­lon­ged use, chro­nic into­xi­ca­ti­on may ari­se. The sym­ptoms of chro­nic into­xi­ca­ti­on in ani­mal expe­ri­ments were initi­al­ly cach­ex­ia, anemia, icte­rus, acu­te exci­ta­ti­on, and dis­tur­ban­ces of tonus, which, after chro­nic admi­nis­tra­ti­on of 1.5 g/​kg/​day, could final­ly end in death.

Evaluation

Sin­ce the effi­ca­cy has not been docu­men­ted, a the­ra­peu­tic use of bil­ber­ry leaf pre­pa­ra­ti­on is not jus­ti­fia­ble in view of the risks involved.