Antibiotic Works Better Than Cranberry Capsules At Preventing UTI Recurrences

The standard antibiotic used to treat urinary tract infections (UTI) did a better job of preventing recurrences of the condition in premenopausal women than cranberry capsules, Dutch researchers have found. They warned, however, that low-dose antibiotics can contribute to antibiotic resistance over time. For the study, 221 women with symptoms of UTI took either 480 mg of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) daily or 500 mg cranberry capsules twice daily. At 12 months, the average number of clinical recurrences OF UTI was 1.8 in the TMP-SMX group and 4.0 in the cranberry capsules group. However, antibiotic resistance rates tripled in the pathogens found in the TMP-SMX patients.