Cranberry Capsules may Help Fight Bladder Infections

A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that while cranberry capsules are not as effective as daily antibiotics in preventing recurrent bladder infections, they have lesser side effects and encourage the growth of antibiotic strains of bacteria that fight against infections.

The study was conducted by researchers from Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam who chose 221 pre-menopausal women who had suffered from at least three urinary tract infections (UTI) and divided them into two groups. The first group of 110 women were treated with daily doses of antibiotics while the second group of 111 women were given capsules containing 500 mg of cranberry twice a day for a year.

At the end of the study period, the researcher found that while there were twice as many UTI cases among the second group compared to the first, a greater percentage (86.3 percent) of those who were given antibiotics showed resistance to the medicines compared to just 23.7 percent of those treated with cranberry supplements.

Source: Medindia