BUCHU
Buchu are woody shrubs that grow as tall as six feet, with red- brown or violet-brown bark. Their leathery leaves are dotted with oil glands, have jagged margins, and range in color from yellow- green to brown. The flowers are small and star shaped. Buchu leaves have been used as a household remedy for almost every known affliction. The medication used to be official in The National Formulary and was widely employed as a urinary antiseptic and diuretic. Its use by physicians has been discontinued, but herbalists continue to recommend it for the same conditions that it was used for more than 135 years ago. Whatever therapeutic utility buchu may possess is due to its volatile oil, the principal active constituent of which is buchu camphor or diosphenol. This accounts for the incorporation of buchu leaves in a large number of teas still sold in Europe for kidney and bladder conditions. There is no reason to question the safety of buchu. Early Western uses - Buchu was first exported to Britain in 1790 and became an official medicine in 1821, being listed in the British Pharmacopoeia as an effective remedy for "cystitis, urethritis, nephritis and catarrh of the bladder." Modern urinary treatment - Broadly speaking, buchu is used today in Western herbal medicine for the same type of urinary complaints as in the 12th century. Buchu is commonly prescribed for urinary tract infections, often proving effective in curing acute cystitis when combined with other herbs such as corn silk and juniper. Taken regularly, buchu can help to prevent recurrent attacks of chronic cystitis or urethritis. In addition, buchu is also taken for prostatitis and irritable bladder, often in combination with herbs such as uva-ursi and corn silk. The active constituent, diosphenol, has a diuretic action and may partly account for the herb's antiseptic effect on the urinary system. Gynecological uses - Buchu infusion or tincture is useful in treatments for cystitis and urethritis, especially when they are related to a preexisiting candida problem, such as yeast infections. The infusion is usually preferable to the tincture, particularly when the onset of infection is sudden. The infusion is also used as a douche for leucorrhea (white vaginal discharge) and occasionally for yeast infections. The herb is a uterine stimulant and contains pulegone, which is also present in large quantities in pennyroyal. Pulegone is an abortifacient and a powerful emmanagogue (stimulates menstrual flow). Buchu should not be taken during pregnancy.
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