It's NOT an old wives' tale: Cranberry juice really does prevent bladder infections

• Study discovered that red grapes stopped bacteria from colonising, swimming together and growing
• Experts now state that fruit extract could be employed to keep medical equipment antibacterial

By Rachel Reilly

Released: 17:06 GMT, 16 This summer 2013

Consuming cranberry juice can actually cure utis, based on new information.

And extracts in the fruit may even keep medical products free from bacteria, say researchers.

1000's of patients develop complications from catheters, thin tubes that deliver liquids or drain urine, simply because they allow bugs onto the skin to simply go into the body and infect tissue or bloodstream.

Studies have proven that cranberry powder stopped Proteus mirabilis, a bacteria frequently suggested as a factor in utis, from colonising and swimming together. Experts now say extracts in the fruit may even keep medical products free from bacteria

Research has found how chemicals in red grapes alter microbial behavior, pointing to some potential role for types in implantable products.

Consuming the fruit continues to be connected with protection against bladder infections (UTIs) for over a century, even though some experts have stated it's a myth without any basis actually.

Some research has recommended red grapes work by blocking bacteria from adhering towards the walls from the urinary system, because of chemicals referred to as PACs (proanthocyanidins). More...

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Now experiments have discovered that cranberry powder stopped Proteus mirabilis, a bacteria frequently suggested as a factor in complicated utis, from colonising and swimming together.

Bladder infections may cause considerable discomfort, particularly to ladies who tend to be more prone

Growing levels from the extract also reduced the bacteria's manufacture of urease, an enzyme that adds towards the virulence of infections, the Canadian Journal of Microbiology reviews online.

These results develop previous work through the same team showing red grapes hinder movement of other bacteria involved with utis.

Microbial movement is really a key mechanism for that spread of infection, as bugs literally go swimming to disseminate within the urinary system and escape your body's immune response.

Professor Nathalie Tufenkji, of McGill College, Montreal, stated: 'While the results of cranberry in living microorganisms remain susceptible to further study, our findings highlight the function cranberry consumption might participate in the protection against chronic infections.

'More than 150 million installments of UTI (uti) are reported globally every year, and antibiotic treatment continues to be standard method for controlling these infections.

'The current rise of microbial potential to deal with anti-biotics underscores the significance of developing another approach.'

She brought another recent study released online in Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces showing the fruit blocked multiplication of Proteus mirabilis, recommending extracts could hinder multiplication of bacteria in UTI leading to catheters.

Added Prof Tufenkji: 'Based around the shown bioactivity of cranberry, its use within catheters along with other medical products could at some point yield considerable advantages to patient health.'