Health and Medicine
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Running to the toilet to pee what seems like every five minutes, only to be greeted with a burning sensation when you do is enough to get many people reaching for the cranberry juice. Downing a glass is perhaps one of the most widely believed “cures” for urinary tract infections (UTIs), but is it backed up by science? A new review suggests it might be.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.A team of researchers from Bond University, the University of Oxford, and the University of Helsinki combed through scientific literature to identify a total of 20 studies in which cranberry products – including juice, but also tablets and the fruit itself – were used as interventions for UTIs.
The researchers sought to answer one overarching question by analyzing these studies: should cranberry juice, or other cranberry products, be recommended to prevent and treat UTIs?
The results seem to suggest yes, according to the authors, with cranberry juice in particular having the potential for benefit.
Overall, the team found that, in 18 of the studies, groups of people consuming cranberry juice had a 54 percent lower rate of UTIs compared to those who had no treatment and 27 percent lower compared to those who received a placebo liquid.
“Cranberry juice also resulted in a 49% lower rate of antibiotic use than placebo liquid and a 59% lower rate than no treatment,” the authors write, also finding that cranberry compounds, including juice, reduced the incidence of UTI symptoms.
On this basis, the authors conclude that “the evidence supports the use of cranberry juice for the prevention and treatment of UTIs.”
There’s quite a significant caveat to these findings though; the researchers’ certainty in the evidence (how strongly it proves that cranberry juice should be used as an intervention), ranged from “moderate to very low”, they write in the study.
That’s not exactly a stellar assessment – much more certainty would be required in order for cranberry juice to become a fully-fledged clinical intervention. The authors also note that most of the participants in the studies were female, which means that the findings also can’t be applied to everyone and that some of the studies had a high risk of bias because of the involvement of cranberry product manufacturers.
While the research isn’t necessarily convincing enough for doctors to immediately recommend ditching antibiotics in favor of chugging a carton of Ocean Spray, the fact that there was some evidence, weak as it is, highlights the need to delve deeper into its potential – research that’s particularly important in the face of an antibiotic resistance crisis.
“More than half of women experience UTIs and antibiotics are a go-to treatment prescribed by doctors,” said lead researcher Dr Christian Moro in a statement.
“With antibiotic resistance increasing, it is vital to identify effective non-drug interventions.”
The study is published in European Urology Focus.
