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

    Cranberry-containing products to prevent urinary tract infections

    Cranberry-containing products are a folk remedy to prevent UTIs.

    Researchers in Taipei and Boston evaluated their value and factors influencing their effectiveness.

    First, the details.

    • Data from 13 studies, including 1616 patients, were used in a meta-analysis.
    • The studies compared prevention of UTIs with cranberry-containing products vs placebo or nonplacebo controls.
    • There were no restrictions for language, population, or publication year.

    And, the results.

    • Cranberry-containing products were more effective than placebo in the following groups.
      • Women with recurrent UTIs
      • Women
      • Children
      • Cranberry juice drinkers
      • People using cranberry-containing products more than twice daily

    The bottom line?

    The authors concluded, “Cranberry-containing products are associated with protective effect against UTIs.”

    The authors caution that the design of the studies were dissimilar (heterogeneous) and that might affect the findings.

    A 2008 Cochrane review reported a favorable effect of cranberry juice in the prevention of symptomatic UTIs in women with recurrent UTIs.

    Since then, additional study results make it possible to include other groups.

    7/10/12 19:43 JR

    Comments are closed.