Does Drinking Cranberry Juice Get Rid Of A Bladder Infection?

According to the National Kidney Foundation, 20 percent of women have had at least one urinary tract infection in her lifetime, and of those, 30 percent have at least one more. Women get more bladder infections than men because of their anatomy; there's a shorter distance for bacteria to travel up the urethra to the bladder. In women, the rectum, a source of bacteria-laden stool, is closer to the opening of the urethra as well. Cranberry juice may help prevent but may have limited value in treating UTIs. Consult your doctor before treating a condition with home or herbal remedies.

Treatment

Cranberry juice may help prevent UTIs, but there's no proof they can cure one after it occurs, according to Kalpana Gupta, M.D. of the University of Washington, who presented a study on the role of cranberry juice and UTIs at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Although drinking 8 oz. of cranberry juice when you have a UTI may speed recovery when taken in conjunction with antibiotic treatment.

Actions

At one time, it was thought that cranberry reduced UTIs by making urine more acidic, but this doesn't seem to be the case. While cranberry prevent bacteria from attaching to the bladder, it doesn't seem to help reduce bacteria already stuck to the walls. The University of Washington study took urine from three women before and after drinking a cranberry juice cocktail. Researchers incubated the urine with human bladder cells along with E coli, the bacteria that most commonly causes UTIs. After drinking the cranberry juice, less bacteria stuck to the bladder cells. Women who drank 8 oz. of juice had only half as much bacteria attached to the cells as women who drank 4 oz.

Prevention

The role of cranberry juice in preventing UTIs has had mixed results in clinical studies. A Cochrane review of studies conducted by Edinburgh University in 2004 found only two good-quality studies to review. Both found that cranberry juice or tablets reduced the recurrence of UTIs over a 12-month period compared to placebo. However, a University of Michigan School of Public Health study reported in "Clinical Infectious Diseases" in January 2011 found that drinking cranberry juice did not prevent recurrent UTIs in a group of 319 college-aged women; in fact, the group drinking cranberry juice had a slightly higher incidence over a six-month period.

Risks

Drinking cranberry juice or taking cranberry supplements daily has few risks, although women who have a history of kidney stones should not take cranberry, MedlinePlus warns, since cranberry can raise levels of oxalate in the urine by as much as 43 percent. Oxalate and calcium make up kidney stones. Drinking more than one liter per day may increase the risk of developing kidney stones. Cranberry can also increase the side effects of some prescription medications by slowing down the liver's action on breaking down medication