Cranberry juice prevents urinary tract infections

By David Liu

Cranberries are commonly used on the Thanksgiving day. It's not just for the Thanksgiving holiday menu or recipes, it has its medicinal applications.

Cranberry juice prevents urinary tract infections

A new study suggests that drinking small amounts of cranberry juice daily may help prevent urinary tract infections in girls.

Researchers at Catholic University in Rome, Italy gave cranberry juice (50 ml per day), Lactobacillus drink (100 ml 5 times a month) and placebo randomly to 84 girls aged 3 to 14 to see the difference in recurrent urinary tract infections.

During the 6-month follow-up, 34 episodes of UTIs were recorded. The rate of infection for the group of girls who used cranberry juice was 18.5 percent compared to 42.3 percent for the Lactobacillus drink group and 48.1 percent for the control group.

The study suggesting that cranberries can be used to prevent UTIs was published recently in Scandinavian Journal of Urology and Nephrology.

Source:

Scand J Urol Nephrol. 2009;43(5):369-372.

Cranberry juice for the prevention of recurrent urinary tract infections: A randomized controlled trial in children.

Ferrara P, Romaniello L, Vitelli O, Gatto A, Serva M, Cataldi L.

Department of Pediatrics, Catholic University, A. Gemelli Hospital, Rome, Italy.