Maurice Chevalier often said "vive la difference!" when comparing men and women. He wasn't, of course, thinking about bladder infections. But when the Great Creator designed the female anatomy He or She made a structural error. Women have a short urethra, the tube that carries urine to the outside. This makes it easier for bacteria to enter the bladder causing cystitis.

Few women ever forget the first full-blown attack of cystitis, the severe pain on urination, increased frequency and fear if there's blood in the urine.

It's estimated that urinary tract infection (UTI) affects 30 to 50 million North Americans every year. This accounts for up to five million physician annual visits, and explains why eight out of every 10 women suffer a UTI at some time in their lives. It's a huge expense when one in every seven healthcare calls are for urinary-related conditions.

Native Americans used cranberry poultices to treat arrow wounds. And cranberries dried with meat made pemmican to treat fever, diarrhea and swelling caused by heart and kidney disease.

But where is the clinical evidence that cranberries help fight UTIs? In the early 1980s studies on mice were published in the Journal of Urology. This showed that cranberry juice inhibited the adherence of Escherichia coli to the cells lining the wall of the urinary bladder. This bacteria, E. coli, is the main cause of UTIs in humans.

E. COLI

Then, in 1991, the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine reported that researchers in Israel had finally proved that mother knows best. Cranberry juice helped to flush E. coli out of the urinary bladder.

Studies show that E. coli have hair-like protrusions that enable them to stick to the bladder wall, thus helping them to multiply. And that the tanins and proanthocyandins in cranberry juice are the anti-sticking factor that cripples these hair-like protrusions.

Cranberry juice does not kill E. coli. Rather, it helps to prevent recurrent UTIs. But drinking juice presents a problem. Cranberry juice cocktail is expensive and only contains 27%. The rest is sweetened water loaded with calories and you would have to drink from 10 to 20 oz. per day. So although effective, there's simply too much sugar for most women.

This problem has been solved by the Cape Cod Biolab Corporation. Cran-Max® is a high-powered supplement containing the entire cranberry, fruit, seeds, skin and juice in a single pill.

Cran-Max® also has a unique patent delivery system that protects the supplement from the stomach's gastric acid. Since it's slowly released, E. coli are constantly bombarded by its anti-sticking effect. And the dosage is just one 500 milligram pill a day.

It may be the answer for those who have suffered repeated UTIs that have not responded to a battery of antibiotics. Cran-Max® will also be helpful to menopausal women who are more prone to UTIs. Following menopause, the lining of the bladder thins from a lack of estrogen. And with more women now refusing this hormone, one can predict an increase in the number of elderly women troubled by bladder infections.

The longer I practise medicine the more I'm convinced consumers take too much man-made medication when natural remedies are frequently safer and often just as effective.

The overuse of antibiotics has resulted in many becoming ineffective due to antibiotic resistance. Hopefully, one-a-day Cran-Max® can aid in decreasing the need for antibiotics in many patients suffering from UTIs.