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A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection that begins in your urinary system. UTIs limited to your bladder can be painful and annoying. But serious consequences can occur if the infection spreads to your kidneys.
Women are most at risk of developing a UTI. In fact, half of all women will develop a UTI during their lifetimes, and many will experience more than one.
The urinary system is composed of the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra. All play a role in removing waste from your body. The kidneys, a pair of bean-shaped organs in your upper posterior abdomen, filter waste from your blood. Tubes called ureters carry urine from your kidneys to your bladder, where it is stored until it exits the body through the urethra. All of these components can become infected, but most infections involve the lower tract — the urethra and the bladder.
Antibiotics are the typical treatment for urinary tract infections. But you can take steps to reduce your chance of getting a UTI in the first place.
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URINARY TRACT INFECTION - Cranberry prevents E. coli, the most common bacterial cause of UTIs, from adhering to the cells lining the wall of the bladder. This anti-adherence action is thought to reduce the ability of the bacteria to cause a UTI. A small double-blind trial with younger women ages 18-45 years with a history of recurrent urinary tracts infections, found that daily treatment with an encapsulated cranberry concentrate (400 mg twice per day) for three months significantly reduced the recurrence of urinary tract infections compared to women taking a placebo.
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KIDNEY STONES - Cranberry has been shown to reduce the amount of ionised calcium in the urine by more than 50% in patients with kidney stones.
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ANTIOXIDANT - Cranberries are rich in potent antioxidant compounds including anthocyanidins, quercetin, and chlorogenic acid. Cranberry has been found to be one of the richest sources of phenolic compounds demonstrating anti-proliferative effects in human cancer cells.
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