Not All Cranberry Supplements Prevent UTIs

(Reuters Health) - Taking cranberry supplements has long been recommended to prevent urinary tract infections (UTI), but it’s important to choose the right products, researchers say.  Tests of seven popular cranberry-pill brands in the U.S. showed that most contained too little of the key bacteria-fighting ingredient to have any effect.  “There is a lot of variability in quality and efficacy of cranberry supplements, making it difficult for consumers to know which ones will work for them,” said lead author Dr. Bilal Chughtai, assistant professor of urology at Weil Cornell Medical College in New York. UTIs affect some 8 million people each year in the U.S. Approximately half of all women will experience one at some point, Chughtai and his colleagues write in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. UTIs are caused by bacteria and usually treated with antibiotics, but antibiotic overuse and resistance are problematic, so finding effective ways to prevent UTIs is important, the authors write. Cranberry juice and supplements have long been used to stave off UTIs. They were once thought to prevent the infections by affecting the acidity of urine, the researchers note. More recent investigations show that cranberries or cranberry juice may actually work because they contain proanthocyanidins – antioxidant “flavonoids” like those found in blueberries, grape seeds and chocolate - which also prevent bacteria from sticking to the ...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news