- Urinary tract infections (UTIs) affect over 50% of women at least once, and one-third of them develop recurrent UTIs.
- A new meta-analysis by Australian researchers including almost 9,000 people confirms cranberry’s reputation as a helpful supplement for people wanting to avoid recurrent UTIs.
- In the scientists’ analysis, cranberry’s protective effect was evident in women, children, and people vulnerable to UTIs following medical interventions.
- The authors say that their work offers convincing evidence that cranberry juice can reduce the risk of UTI infections in some people who have recurrent UTIs.
Cranberry has long been regarded as a preventive or curative treatment for urinary tract infections (UTIs). To date, though, research has produced conflicting evidence of its effectiveness.
Scientists at Flinders University and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in Australia recently published a global study showing that cranberry products may indeed reduce the risk of UTIs in some groups.
This is the fifth update of a review first released in 1998 and last updated in 2012. It appears in Cochrane Reviews.
Prof. Jonathan Craig, the study’s senior author, says that his team’s research “shows a very positive finding that cranberry juice can prevent UTI in susceptible people.”
UTIs develop when bacteria enter and infect the urinary tract, which includes the urethra, bladder, ureter, and kidney.
The growth of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in the urinary tract is the most common cause of UTIs.
This bacteria strain is naturally present in the gut but can travel into the bladder through contamination of fecal matter. It then sticks to the bladder walls and reproduces.
Dr. Gabrielle Williams, the lead author of the study, told Medical News Today that the symptoms are no laughing matter: “People with recurrent UTI symptoms are sometimes desperate for something that helps them. I’ve had mums in tears over their kids’ UTIs, so having something they can try is a positive…
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