A new study published in the journal of European Urology Focus showed data that suggests cranberry juice as a potential to prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs) with moderate to low certainty. One of the most prevalent bacterial illnesses is urinary tract infection which is more common in children by affecting almost 50% of girls and 20% of males at some point in their lives. Even while antimicrobials have historically had a high percentage of prompt cure, the bacteria that cause UTIs are becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics. It is now necessary to take action and find evidence-based non-drug therapies for the prevention and treatment of UTIs since microbial resistance is beginning to reduce the efficiency of antibiotics in the treatment of UTIs. Thus, this study by Christian Moro and colleagues evaluated the effectiveness of cranberry juice, cranberry pills, and increased liquids in the treatment of urinary tract infections.

The randomized controlled studies were looked for using PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane CENTRAL. UTI frequency was the main result, whereas antibiotic use and UTI symptoms were the secondary results. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess the risk of bias, and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation was used to determine the degree of evidence certainty.
There were 20 trials altogether with 3091 individuals; 18 of them showed that cranberry juice drinking was associated with a 54% lower risk of UTIs than no therapy and a 27% lower rate than placebo liquid. Based on a network meta-analysis of six studies, cranberry juice also led to a 49% lower rate of use of antibiotics than placebo liquid and a 59% lower rate than no therapy. Utilizing cranberry components also decreased the frequency of UTI symptoms.
Overall, the efficacy of cranberry juice to prevent UTIs is supported by the outcomes of this analysis. The combination of these, in cranberry juice, offers clear and significant clinical outcomes for the reduction in UTIs and antibiotic use, and should be taken into consideration for the management of UTIs. Increased liquids benefit the rate of UTIs and reduce antibiotic use and cranberry compounds benefit infection symptoms. Alternative non-drug therapy approaches are needed for the management of UTIs due to their rising incidence of antimicrobial-resistant infections.
Source:
Moro, C., Phelps, C., Veer, V., Jones, M., Glasziou, P., Clark, J., Tikkinen, K. A. O., & Scott, A. M. (2024). Cranberry Juice, Cranberry Tablets, or Liquid Therapies for Urinary Tract Infection: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis. In European Urology Focus. Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euf.2024.07.002