Evidence supporting the use of: Hydrangea
For the health condition: Gall Stones

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Synopsis

Source of validity: Traditional
Rating (out of 5): 1

Hydrangea root (Hydrangea arborescens) has a long history of use in traditional herbal medicine, particularly within North American indigenous and eclectic herbal traditions. It has been employed as a remedy for kidney and bladder stones, and sometimes for gallstones, based on the belief that it can “dissolve” or help expel stones from the urinary and biliary tracts. The root was included in various 19th and early 20th century herbal materia medica as a “stone breaker,” although most references focus on urinary calculi rather than gallstones specifically. There is scant direct scientific research evaluating hydrangea’s efficacy on gallstones. The biological plausibility is sometimes attributed to the presence of compounds such as hydrangin and saponins, which are thought to have mild diuretic or anti-inflammatory effects, but there is no robust clinical or preclinical evidence demonstrating that hydrangea can prevent or dissolve gallstones in humans. Modern clinical guidelines do not endorse hydrangea for gallstone management, and any benefits are likely anecdotal or based on its traditional use for related conditions. Therefore, the support for hydrangea in the context of gallstones is primarily traditional, with weak and indirect evidence at best.

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