Devil in the Details

It seems as if everyone these days is trying to put the frontline attack on things we've known for years.

This time it is the cranberry.  And then it is the benefit from cranberry that helps you if you get an infection in your bladder, commonly called a UTI.

If you read closely, the tell tale sign of spurious research is the fact that this report is based on the use of a product only 27% cranberry.

For the unenlightened, it is important to use a product that is organic, and 100% cranberry.

Cranberry offers some unique enzymes not found in other food.  I mentioned this a few years ago in an interview I did as a guest on the Jeff Rense program.  

In that discussion of easy things to do to protect your health my suggestion was to take 2 ounces daily of pure cranberry juice. With a UTI, add a cranberry capsules and drink much more water.

Another suggestion is to add 100% pure unsweetened cranberry juice to your daily fluid intake (1 oz juice to 7 oz water).  The keyword is "unsweetened".


You can also make your own cranberry juice from whole cranberries.  Simmer them in water until they pop, then blend the water and berries on high in your blender.  Use one pound of berries to one quart of pure, filtered water.

Just remember, the use of cranberry juice for UTI has been effectively used for decades.
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The New York Times recently reported on cranberry’s spotted affect on bladder infections. The mechanisms responsible for the berry’s affect are still unclear. Theories such as its vitamin C content may sterilize the urine, but that was debunked. In 1998 a team of researchers proanthocyanidin—which is found in blueberry and cranberry juice—does slow bacterial growth, suggesting it is perhaps the ingredient responsible for preventing bladder infections, but does it?.
Fast forward 11 years to 2009, when researchers in Scotland reported a daily cranberry supplement may prevent recurring bladder infections almost as well as an antibiotic. But now, new research is  turning up different results. A 2011 double blind, placebo-controlled trial published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, sponsored by a grant from the National Cener for Alternative Medicine, found, “Among otherwise healthy college women with an acute urinary tract infection (UTI), those drinking 8 oz of 27-percent cranberry juice (from Ocean Spray) twice daily did not experience a decrease in the six-month incidence of a second UTI, compared with those drinking a placebo (2011;52(1):23-30).
The trial studied the effects of cranberry on risk of recurring UTI among 319 college women presenting with an acute UTI. Participants were followed up until a second UTI or for six months, whichever came first. A UTI was defined on the basis of the combination of symptoms and a urine culture positive for a known uropathogen. The study was designed to detect a two-fold difference between treated and placebo groups, as was detected in unblinded trials. Researchers assumed 30 percent of participants would experience a UTI during the follow-up period.
Overall, the recurrence rate was 16.9 percent and the distribution of the recurrences was similar between study groups, with the active cranberry group presenting a slightly higher recurrence rate (20 percent versus 14 percent). The presence of urinary symptoms at three days, one to two weeks, and at more than (or equal to) one month was similar between study groups, with overall no marked differences.
According to The New York Times, senior author of the study Betsy Foxman, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, said she is going to continue researching the cranberry.

Better Bladder Health in Just a Few Weeks

Healthy bladders are often compromised by extended sitting and poor bathroom facilities (in both quality and quantity)—both common aspects in our nation’s schools and workplaces. These conditions often account for the retraining of the bladder to store a larger volume of urine than is medically recommended. This can cause a sluggish bladder, which results in the urge to empty the bladder again in a relatively short amount of time.



The bladder is simply a reservoir for urine and not designed to store copious amounts of urine. The brain signals the urge response when a pre-set amount, which varies per individual, is stored. A good rule of thumb is to comfortably wait to empty the bladder every couple of hours.

Many individuals, especially women, have a tendency to ignore this urge and will wait to urinate when their bladder is two or three times larger than the recommended volume.

The regular flushing of the bladder serves to discourage bacterial growth, while maintaining proper bladder size and elasticity. An overstretched bladder is not going to recoil as effectively (think of an overused rubber band) and eventually will become sluggish. For sluggish bladders, the better bladder techniques may provide some relief. This includes:

It all Starts with a Flush

Better bladder health begins with drinking lots of water to help dilute the urine and regularly flush the bladder. The goal is to reach eight glasses per day. If you do not like the taste of water, try adding the juice of a fresh lemon or orange.

Pelvic Floor Training

Strengthening the bladder muscle provides optimal storage and emptying capacities and encourages a healthy bladder. This is best achieved by Kegel exercises. Contract the pelvic floor muscles and hold for a ten-second count and relax. It is recommended that you perform ten repetitions every hour.

Walk and Squat

Better bladder health is greatly improved with the addition of this pelvic-floor strengthening exercise. The goal is to reach thirty walk and squats per day. To do a walk and squat: walk five steps, stop and squat. Hold for a five-second count and relax. Do not do all thirty at the same time—instead, perform a set of five walk and squats at a time, until you reach a total of six cycles per day.

Empty, Wait, Empty

Better bladder health includes completely emptying the bladder, otherwise the urge to go will return fifteen minutes later (however, it is normal to have a small residual of approximately 1.5 oz). Pregnancy and age can lead to bladder relaxation and result in the incomplete emptying of the bladder. Do not try to combat this by forcing urine out of the bladder, as the pressure actually causes more problems. Instead, try and relax the pelvic floor by taking several slow deep breaths. After urination, continue sitting and wait a minute and then try to urinate again to empty the rest of the bladder.

By following these recommendations, better bladder health can easily be achieved in a few short weeks. If you are suffering from a medically-related bladder disorder or take prescription medication that affects bladder emptying, be sure to consult your physician before attempting this program.

New Level of Insanity

All these scientists are missing the boat these days, just like the folks that believe in the germ theory.

Fallacious thoughts!
What about preventive thinking?

We all know there is the issue of personal hygiene, cranberry nectar, cranberry sugar extract, and even something as simple as drinking more pure water...

Vaccine to prevent urinary tract infections due to E. coli bacteria

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers developing a vaccine to prevent urinary tract infections due to E. coli bacteria say the bacteria behave differently in women than in mice.
Scientists at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor say their genetic studies indicated specific surface structures of the E. coli found in mouse infections considered key to the bacteria thriving were not found in great numbers in the human samples.
"If we want to prevent infections in humans, we need to look at what's going on with the bacteria while it's in humans," study senior investigator Harry Mobley said in a statement. "We're not looking to make the world safer for mice."
Mobley and colleagues, who published a study last year showing the vaccine prevented urinary infections in mice, said the differences in gene expression in the mouse and human samples were significant but the key targets of the vaccine related to iron acquisition were similar and raise the hopes -- albeit several years away -- the vaccine will work in humans.
The study was published in PLoS Pathogens.

Elsewhere on the vaccine frontier -
Well, here's yet another vaccine getting the fast track to market. Notice that C. Difficile is a big problem in Europe and North America and that translates into big bucks. The people most affected are senior citizens and those with illnesses. M O N E Y, the company, Sanofi Pasteur stands to make a lot of it. It's ALL ABOUT M O N E Y! Patty

FDA grants C. difficile vaccine candidate fast-track designation
InfectiousDiseaseNews.com - 11-16-10

The FDA has granted Sanofi-Pasteur's investigational Clostridium difficile vaccine candidate fast-track designation for the treatment of C. difficile.

"Our C. difficile vaccine candidate is in phase 2," Michel DeWilde, PhD, senior vice president of research and development at Sanofi-Pasteur, said in a press release. "The FDA fast-track designation recognizes that a C. difficile vaccine could address an important unmet medical need."

The incidence of C. difficile infection has increased significantly in recent years in North America and Europe. Treatments in these two regions of the world are estimated to be costing more than $7 billion a year. The current treatment of C. difficile infection involves the use of one of the two antibiotics recommended for the management of C. difficile.

Under this program, the FDA can accept for review completed portions of the licensing application before receipt of the entire application, according to DeWilde.
source: Rense.com

and along the same lines of thinking -

Why is it that health care providers are failing to rely on dietary supplements that will safely "thin" the blood instead of using warfarin which will ultimately lead to a condition that causes the call wall membrane to self-destruct?

Think of all the lives that could be saved from bleeding to death if one prescribed garlic, nattokinase, garlic, omega 3 fish oil, non-soy vitamin e, and other natural products that accomplish the same result as warfarin...

It is much more that people taking supplements and not wanting to tell the doctor, it needs to start from the doctor being more informed about natural product benefit and working with their patients that wish to avoid drugs.

SALT LAKE CITY—Many of the most popular dietary supplements can interact with prescription drugs, including possible fatal consequences, according to twin studies conducted at Utah’s Intermountain Medical Center. The team of cardiologists and dietitians interviewed 100 patients on warfarin, an anticoagulant drug used to help prevent stroke. They learned 69 percent of subjects also used dietary supplements, especially vitamins, glucosamine and chondroitin, fish oil and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). More than half did not know about possible interactions, and nearly two-thirds did not consult with or inform their doctors about the supplement use. Researchers further discovered supplement users on warfarin were more likely to skip or double doses of the drug, and they also more frequently experienced drug interactions, such as unexplained bleeding and increased need for blood transfusions.
 Researcher T. Jared Bunch, M.D., a cardiologist, noted the drugs and supplements all compete in the liver for processing; for example, CoQ10, a favorite among cardio patients, can inhibit warfarin’s benefits and increase stroke risk, while fish oil can increase the risk of unwanted bleeding. He added health care and products providers need to better educate people on the possible interactions between drugs and supplements.
Fellow researchers John Day, M.D., also a cardiologist, added health care providers need to be aware of the supplements their patients are taking, especially if concurrent with prescribed medications. “We’re not saying dietary supplements are bad. We’re saying they should be considered medications,” he said. “And it’s critical that health providers know what medications their patients are taking.”