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| Cranberry Plant Provided by linluyihui |
Most of the Canadians
are no stranger to cranberries, which are a group of low, creeping shrubs found
throughout the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere, especially North
America. As a major commercial crop in United States and Canada, a small part
of cranberries are sold fresh to the customs while most are processed into
cranberry products such as juice and sweetened dried cranberries.
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| Dried Cranberries Provided by Lehuo |
As a kind of
alternative medicines, cranberry especially cranberry juice has been consumed
for decades because of the belief that it can prevent and treat urinary tract
infections (UTIs). Last week I read a journal article which revealed the truth
of these “magic” fruits: cranberries could effectively prevent UTIs in specific
subpopulations. However, there is no evidence that cranberry can be used to
treat UTIs.
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| Cranberry Juice Provided by Dongfang |
One of the important suggestions was that cranberries prevent
bacteria from sticking to the urinary epithelial cells which line the wall of
the bladder, which inhibit the bacterial infection. In order to assess the
effectiveness of cranberries (particularly in the form of cranberry juice) in
the prevention of UTIs in susceptible populations, 1049 participants in 10 studies were divided
and evaluated in different groups (cranberries juice vs. placebo, cranberries
tablets vs. placebo). From the results, researchers got the conclusion that
Cranberries products significantly reduced the chance of getting UTIs over a
year, and more effectively in women who had recurrent UTIs compared with
elderly people and people who needed catheterization. Dropouts in these studies
were high because many participants stopped drinking cranberry juice for
various reasons. Also, it was unclear how long and how much people should take
cranberries products to prevent UTIs. However, cranberries had not been shown
to be effective as a treatment for an existing urinary tract infection.
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| Cranberries Provided by nipic |
As the website of Nation Center for Complementary andAlternative Medicine recommends, drinking cranberry juice products appears to
be safe, but if you drink too much, it will also cause gastrointestinal
intolerance or diarrhea. It is a good idea to drink some cranberry juice every
day to prevent UTIs, but people who have had existing UTIs should go to consult
health care providers for scientific treatments.
I heard the same thing about cranberries. It is a primarily a preventative measure, rather then a treatment of UTI's. Also as prevention, elimination of caffeine and pop from the diet prevents UTI's by decreasing irritation of the urethra.
ReplyDeleteExcellent Blog post, I think it is a good idea to address common misconceptions or clarify the benefits of prevention rather than treatment.