The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

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  • Recent Comments

    Is there a cranberry:beta-lactam interaction?

     Drinking cranberry juice is often recommended along with taking low-dose antibiotics to prevent recurrent urinary tract infection.

    Researchers from the University of Washington, in Seattle evaluated the potential risk of an interaction between cranberry juice and the β-lactam antibiotics, amoxicillin (amoxicilline, Amoxil) and cefaclor (Ceclor) that might lower the effectiveness of the antibiotics.

    First, the details.
    Amoxicillin-cranberry juice interaction

    • On 4 separate occasions, 18 healthy women took 1 dose of amoxicillin 500 mg and amoxicillin 2 grams by mouth with or without cranberry juice cocktail (8 oz).

    Cefaclor-cranberry juice interaction

    • On 2 separate occasions, they took cefaclor 500 mg with or without cranberry juice cocktail (12 oz).

    And, the results.

    • Absorption of amoxicillin and cefaclor was delayed.
    • But overall, cranberry juice had no significant effect on absorption or the elimination of either antibiotic from the body via the kidneys.

    The bottom line?
    The authors concluded that the use of cranberry juice at usual quantities to prevent urinary tract infections isn’t likely to alter how the body handles these to oral antibiotics, and therefore the response to their use.

    Since cranberry was listed as one of the trends to watch in 2009, the results of 2 studies of special interest have been published.

    • Researchers from Massachusetts studied how cranberry might lower the risk of urinary tract infections.
    • Researchers from Australia investigated the possible impact of cranberry, on the anticoagulant, warfarin (Coumadin).

    7/2/09 20:27 JR

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