Drinking cranberry juice has long been touted as a mythical way to prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women, and now new medical evidence suggests that consuming cranberry products is indeed an effective way to prevent UTIs before they occur.
The global study "Cranberries for preventing urinary tract infections", published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, shows that cranberry juice and its supplements are effective in preventing UTIs. showed that cranberry juice and its supplements reduced the risk of recurrent UTIs by more than a quarter in women, by more than half in children, and by 53% in people susceptible to UTIs after medical intervention.
Cranberry juice and supplements containing cranberries, such as capsules and tablets, have long been touted as an easily accessible urinary tract infection prevention option. However, a recent review in 2012 has shown that based on evidence from 24 trials, these cranberry products have not been beneficial.
Medical scientists from Flinders University and Westmead Children's Hospital aimed to update these results by looking at 50 recent trials that included nearly 9,000 participants, and they determined the effectiveness of cranberry products.
Dr. Gabrielle Williams, lead author of the study, said, "The results did not surprise us, and we know that the truth will emerge when more evidence is taken into consideration. uti is very scary and very common, experienced by about one-third of women, and many older adults and those with bladder problems caused by spinal cord injury or other diseases People can also have this disease."
Gabrielle also shared her personal experience, "Back in 1973, my mother was told to try cranberry juice to prevent her horrible and frequent urinary tract infections, and for her it was a lifesaver. Despite my whispering in her ear about the evidence, she continued to take it daily, first as a nasty sour juice and in recent years as an easy-to-swallow capsule. As soon as she stopped, the symptoms relapsed. As usual, it turns out Mom was right! Cranberry products can help prevent urinary tract infections in some women."
Dr. Jacqueline Stephens, a Flinders University epidemiologist and co-author of the study, said that if UTIs are left unaware, they can metastasize to the kidneys and cause pain and more complications, including sepsis in very severe cases, so prevention is the most effective way to reduce the risk.
"Most UTIs can be treated effectively with antibiotics, sometimes with just one dose. But unfortunately, some people will keep coming back with UTIs. before it was determined whether cranberry products worked or how they worked, some health care providers began recommending it to patients. At the time, it was a harmless, easy option. Even centuries ago, Native Americans reportedly consumed cranberries for bladder problems until recently, when scientists began to explore what works in cranberries and how it works."
"The trials we looked at used a range of methods to determine the benefits of cranberry products. The vast majority of them compared the difference between cranberry products and placebo or no treatment for UTIs and determined that drinking cranberry juice or taking capsules reduced the number of UTIs that occurred in these three groups: women with recurrent UTI cases, children, and people who received medical interventions such as bladder radiation therapy that resulted in susceptibility to UTIs."
"However, it is also important to consider that a small percentage of people reported some side effects, the most common of which was abdominal pain. Also, we cannot yet determine whether cranberry products are better or worse at preventing UTI progression relative to antibiotics or probiotics."
However, the data did not show that cranberry products are beneficial for the elderly, pregnant women or people with bladder emptying problems.
Professor Jonathan Craig, senior author of the study and associate dean of the Flinders University School of Medicine and Public Health, said the true benefits of cranberry products became clear when the researchers expanded the scope of the assessment and included the latest available clinical data.
"This is a general review of the evidence and as new evidence emerges, new findings are likely to emerge. This time, new evidence shows that cranberry juice can prevent UTIs in susceptible people, which is a very positive finding."
"We used all of the evidence on UTIs published since the 1990s to demonstrate the effectiveness of cranberry products. Previous versions of the review failed to show definitive evidence of effectiveness, and subsequent clinical trials have shown varying results, but in this latest version of the review, a large body of data finally gives new findings."
The study authors concluded that while cranberry products do help reduce the risk of recurrent UTI in women, further research is needed to determine which group of people can benefit the most from cranberry products.
