Urinary Tract Infections in Women

[Tank]

Probiotic May Reduce Rate of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections in Women, Study Suggests

ScienceDaily (Apr. 15, 2011) â€" Urinary tract infections are common in women, costing an estimated $2.5 billion per year to treat in 2000 in the United States alone. These infections frequently recur, affecting 2 to 3 percent of all women. A depletion of vaginal lactobacilli, a type of bacteria, is associated with urinary tract infection risk, which suggests that replenishing these bacteria may be beneficial.

Researchers conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled trial to investigate this theory. Their results are published in Clinical Infectious Diseases...

Only a pilot study of 100 women but it is sufficiently interesting to carry out a larger scale trial.

[DeterminedJuliet]

Neat! Now, how long do you think it'll be before a yogurt manufacturer starts marketing yogurt with those pro-biotics?

[Recusant]

Neat! Now, how long do you think it'll be before a yogurt manufacturer starts marketing yogurt with those pro-biotics?

Since urine is (in the absence of a urinary tract infection) sterile, putting Lactobacillus crispatus in yogurt wouldn't have the desired effect.  (Unless of course you made use of the yogurt in an unorthodox way.   ) Many brands of yogurt already have active Lactobacillus acidophilus cultures, but that is not a common variety of Lactobacillus found in the ahem, area of interest.  According to this paper, the most common varieties are "L. crispatus, L. jensenii, and L. gasseri." The study in the Science Daily story used suppositories.

[Ulver]

I have definitely heard of women claiming inserting plain yogurt in...there...treats yeast infections.

[DeterminedJuliet]

Neat! Now, how long do you think it'll be before a yogurt manufacturer starts marketing yogurt with those pro-biotics?

Since urine is (in the absence of a urinary tract infection) sterile, putting Lactobacillus crispatus in yogurt wouldn't have the desired effect.  (Unless of course you made use of the yogurt in an unorthodox way.   ) Many brands of yogurt already have active Lactobacillus acidophilus cultures, but that is not a common variety of Lactobacillus found in the ahem, area of interest.  According to this paper, the most common varieties are "L. crispatus, L. jensenii, and L. gasseri." The study in the Science Daily story used suppositories.

Oh yes, but what is scientifically sound =/= what business' are willing to market

[Tank]

Oh yes, but what is scientifically sound =/= what business' are willing to market

Ain't that the truth!

[fester30]

Neat! Now, how long do you think it'll be before a yogurt manufacturer starts marketing yogurt with those pro-biotics?

Dannon tried to market the benefits of probiotics in its Activia as a way to charge a premium to its yogurt despite a 2006 study paid by parent company Danone that showed no scientific proof of these benefits (specifically digestive health and stronger immune system).  http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/01/24/us-dannon-lawsuit-idUSN237176420080124

Danone is being sued because of this.

When I found out my mother-in-law was taking probiotics, and that she got her scientific evidence of their benefits from the website of a manufacturer of probiotics, I was instantly skeptical.  She fell for the glyconutrients pyramid scam.  Glyconutrients are supposedly a bunch of sugars we need for cellular health that we don't get from food.  In other words, they weren't even trying to hide the fact that they were selling sugar pills, and mother-in-law fell for it .

Are there helpful bacteria in the body?  yes.  Will they survive in pill form on the trip through the stomach?  I guess it's possible.  However, I'm very skeptical of the benefits of manufactured probiotics, simply because I feel that if our body needs it, most of us produce it or get it from natural sources anyway.  I could be wrong, but from what I've seen of websites promoting manufactured probiotics and the "personal success stories" it seems to me to be another of the placebo effect fads.

[Whitney]

A related side note:  Cranberry juice has antibacterial properties that can help to cure bladder infections.  So, if you have one but have to wait a few days to see the doctor start having cranberry juice.  I'm not sure how much research has been done on it but in my experience it has seemed to help or even cure.  Plus, I like any excuse to have cranberry juice.  (if you don't drink enough water you should do that too...as that is probably a contributing factor)

[fester30]

A related side note:  Cranberry juice has antibacterial properties that can help to cure bladder infections.  So, if you have one but have to wait a few days to see the doctor start having cranberry juice.  I'm not sure how much research has been done on it but in my experience it has seemed to help or even cure.  Plus, I like any excuse to have cranberry juice.  (if you don't drink enough water you should do that too...as that is probably a contributing factor)

That's the other thing that confuses me about probiotics.  Cranberry juice (and by extension AZO tablets) have been proven to help with many UTI due to antibacterial properties.  Yet somehow probacterial products are supposed to help because of some bacterial balance?  I just really distrust the probiotics thing.  Of course, the FDA hasn't touched the claims of the probiotics manufacturers.

[KDbeads]

I have definitely heard of women claiming inserting plain yogurt in...there...treats yeast infections.

Actually it's being recommended for Bacterial Vaginosis by some docs.  Must be live culture yogurt.  It helps balance the acidity levels, wacky acidity levels leading to natural bacterial overgrowth are to blame for BV.  (read, this is not an STD, and can't be transferred)  They usually treat with metronidazole (or some form of it) but it reoccurs repeatedly especially in women with IUDs.

Yes it works.....  Don't ask how I know, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper and less issues than a tube of metrogel every few weeks.  

Don't know about the yeast infection treatment possibility but, I wouldn't rule it out.

[DeterminedJuliet]

A related side note:  Cranberry juice has antibacterial properties that can help to cure bladder infections.  So, if you have one but have to wait a few days to see the doctor start having cranberry juice.  I'm not sure how much research has been done on it but in my experience it has seemed to help or even cure.  Plus, I like any excuse to have cranberry juice.  (if you don't drink enough water you should do that too...as that is probably a contributing factor)

I don't like taking antibiotics unless I have to, and I did find cranberry juice (real cranberry juice, not a "cranberry cocktail" ) totally cleared up the few cases that I've had an UTI.

[fester30]

My mother-in-law takes probiotics supplements.  She tried to get me and my wife to start taking them.  I even pointed to the Mayo clinic website that shows the benefits of probiotics in most instances is questionable at best.  The only benefit the Mayo clinic website shows that has something in the way of research behind it involves suppositories to help with bacterial vaginosis.  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lactobacillus/NS_patient-acidophilus/DSECTION=evidence

This is the same mother-in-law that was taken in by the glyconutrients scam.  Glyconutrients are part of a pyramid scheme similar to selling Amway products.  They are expensive, too.  They cost my mother-in-law over a hundred bucks a month when she was taking them.  She swore they worked, too.  The claim was that there are essential sugars your body's cells need to process energy and have strong cellular membranes, and you don't get these sugars through food.  In other words, they weren't even trying to hide the fact that they were selling sugar pills.  Ingenious if you ask me.  We finally got the mother-in-law to stop wasting her money on such things, only to see her going after these probiotics pills.  She loves "holistic" remedies, and has books about essential oils and such.  I'm just waiting to see if she gets into homeopathy.  I'm sure that's next.