UTI prevention

[Guest guest]

Hi All

I found this info and thought it may be of interest to you ladies out there. My wife suffers from this problem on a regular basis.

Kind regards Jeff

 

 

Cranberries and UTI Prevention

Ingestion of cranberry juice has been shown to be effective in decreasing bacteriuria with pyuria, but not bacteriuria alone or symptomatic urinary tract infection (UTI), in an elderly population. When combined with lingonberry, cranberry juice was demonstrated to reduce the rate of recurrent UTI in younger women. A randomized trial compared placebo, cranberry juice, and cranberry tablets for the prevention of UTIs in sexually active women aged 21 to 72 years. In this study, 32% of the women taking placebo experienced at least one symptomatic UTI over a period of 1 year; for the women taking cranberry juice or cranberry tablets, the rates were 20% and 18%, respectively.1 Thus, although the efficacy of cranberry juice for the prevention of UTI needs further evaluation, there is mounting evidence that it may be effective in young, otherwise healthy women.2

1. Stothers L: A randomized trial to evaluate effectiveness and cost effectiveness of naturopathic cranberry products as prophylaxis against urinary tract infection in women. Can J Urol 9:1558, 2002 [PMID 12121581]

2. Jepson RG, Mihaljevic L, Craig J: Cranberries for preventing urinary tract infections. Cochrane Database Syst Rev (1):CD0013213, 2004 [PMID 14973968]

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Does Estrogen Replacement Prevent Urinary Tract Infections?

Topical estrogen replacement, in the form of vaginal estriol cream, may decrease the incidence of recurrent UTI in postmenopausal women. However, some studies of postmenopausal women have not found a protective effect with topical estrogen, particularly when it is delivered by pessary. The effects of systemic estrogen replacement on risk of UTI have not been studied in a randomized, controlled trial; but in general, a protective effect has not been demonstrated with this intervention.1,2

1. Jackson SL, Boyko EJ, Scholes D, et al: What predicts urinary tract infection after menopause? A prospective study. Am J Med (in press)

2. Raz R, Colodner R, Rohana Y, et al: Effectiveness of estriol-containing vaginal pessaries and nitrofurantoin macrocrystal therapy in the prevention of recurrent urinary tract infection in postmenopausal women. Clin Infect Dis 36:1362, 2003 [PMID 12766829]