Verifying "Aboriginal Folk Wisdom"

"This incredible result didn't really surprise us, as we're taught that when there's more and better evidence the truth will ultimately come out."

"UTIs [urinary tract infections] are horrible and very common; about a third of women will experience one, as will many elderly people and also people with bladder issues from spinal cord injury or other conditions."

"Even back in 1973, my mum was told to try cranberry juice to prevent her horrible and frequent UTIs and for her it's been a saviour. Despite me niggling in her ear about evidence, she's continued to take it daily, first as the nasty sour juice and in recent years, the easy-to-swallow capsules. As soon as she stops, wham the symptoms are back."

"As usual, it turns out that mum was right! Cranberry products can help some women prevent UTIs."

Gabrielle Williams, lead author, research study, Flinders University, Australia

 

For centuries, people believed that cranberry juice acted as a barrier against acquiring urinary tract infections. To the present that belief persists and people trust that cranberry juice and its supplements make it possible to prevent the onset of urinary tract infections [UTIs]. Now, a global study published in the journal Cochrane Reviews, has found the consumption of cranberry products can indeed lessen the risk of repeat symptomatic UTIs by 25 percent in women, by more than half in children, and by 53 percent in patients, following medical procedures.

 

Long touted as an effective deterrent, the most recent review of the literature in 2012 found no significant benefits in the juice and its supplements, including capsules and tablets. Researchers from Flinders University and The children's Hospital at Westmead in Australia, however, sought to update those findings and analyzed 50 recent trials involving close to 9,000 subjects. Their study revealed a different story; that the anecdotal but scientifically unproven merits of cranberry juice as a UTI preventive could be verified.

UTI infections are universal. An issue that arises generally when E.coli bacteria that live on human skin outside the body manage somehow to invade the body interior, enter the urethra, and travel to the bladder -- and once there, cause an infection.Women with their shorter urethras have more frequent incidents of UTIs than males since the shorter urethra results in bacteria not having to travel as far to reach the bladder.

Untreated infections have the potential to migrate to the kidneys to cause more serious complications, including, albeit rarely, sepsis, which makes it imperative that UTIs be prevented if at all possible. The published research analyzed by the Australian team revealed that cranberries, as popular belief had it, is a powerful ally in the prevention of urinary tract inventions, with few identified drawbacks.

 

"Most UTIs are effectively and pretty quickly treated with antibiotics, sometimes as little as one dose can cure the problem."

"Unfortunately, in some people, UTIs keep coming back."

"First Nations reportedly ate cranberries for bladder problems, leading to scientists exploring what it was in cranberries that helped and how it might work."

Jacqueline Stephens, study co-author, epidemiologist, Flinders University