CRANBERRY JUICE FOR URINARY INFECTIONS.

Report #6149 3/15/94

A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that cranberry juice can help to prevent and treat urinary tract infections in older people.

Your urine is not supposed to have any bacteria in it. However, the urine of many older people contains bacteria, even though many don't have the symptoms of a urinary tract infection, such as burning on urination, urinating frequently, getting up in the middle of the night to urinate and terrible discomfort when the bladder is full. Older people were given either a placebo beverage or cranberry juice and the urines of those receiving cranberry juice had bacteria only half as often as the placebo group.

A germ called E. Coli is a normal inhabitant of the colon. In some people, it can climb from the surrounding skin up into the bladder by sticking to the cells that line the urinary tract. Cranberry and blueberry juices contain a chemical that prevents E. Coli from sticking to urinary tract cells so they can't climb up into the bladder. Orange, grapefruit, guava, mango and pineapple juices do not contain this chemical.

The people in the study drank more than one glass each day. It took four to 8 weeks for the cranberry juice to clear bacteria. from infected urine. The authors emphasize that cranberry juice should not be used in place of antibiotics to treat urinary tract infections.

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News