No matter what you call it—cystitis, bladder infection, urinary tract infection or UTI—the symptoms are a real pain in the bladder. You have the sudden urge to pee, but when you make it to the bathroom you feel more of a burning sensation than relief. And if you don’t nip it in the bud, that burning can progress to a full-blown infection that includes fever, chills, lower abdominal pain and/or blood in the urine.
About one out of two women will have a UTI at least once during her lifetime. But men can also get bladder infections, especially if they have an enlarged prostate. Also, a large percentage of individuals with spinal cord injuries suffer from UTIs, especially young men who have had accidents, typically motorcycle accidents, or who have sustained injuries as a result of combat.
Prevent UTIs Naturally
The typical treatment for urinary tract infections is a round of antibiotics. The problem is, antibiotics kill both the good and bad bacteria in your gut, which leads to other health problems. The good news is that D-Mannose can prevent UTIs before they take hold.
What is D-Mannose?
It is a simple sugar structurally related to glucose, that is found in many fruits, including peaches, apples, oranges, cranberries, and blueberries. It is also produced in your body. D-mannose is considered a safe and natural nutritional food supplement. Since it isn’t metabolized, it doesn’t interfere with blood sugar regulation, and is therefore safe for diabetics.
According to researchers at the Washington University (WU) School of Medicine in St. Louis, most UTIs start when Escherichia coli (E. coli), a microorganism that lives in the digestive tract and is found in the anal area, invade the bladder and penetrate a protective coating of the superficial cells that line the bladder. In most cases, urine flow washes out bacteria from the bladder. But the cell wall of E. coli bacteria has tiny finger-like projections that contain complex molecules called lectins on their surface. These lectins are cellular glue that binds the bacteria to the bladderwall so they cannot be easily rinsed out by urination.
The chemical structure of D-Mannose causes it to stick to E. coli bacteria, maybe even more tenaciously than E.coli adheres to human cells. Although the mechanism of how it works is complicated, theoretically, if enough D-mannose is present in the urine, it binds to the bacteria and prevents them from attaching to the urinary tract lining. Studies show that D-mannose reduces bacteria in rats in a dose dependent manner. In fact, D-mannose was found to significantly reduce bacteria in one day.
Normal urination, therefore, with a sufficient level of D-mannose present, becomes a simple and effective treatment for treating and preventing UTIs.
E. coli cells coated by D-mannose in the urine become unglued and get flushed right out of the body. The beauty about D-mannose is that you can take it year-round without any side effects, which means that you do not have to wait until symptoms appear.
How is D-mannose different from cranberry extract?
Although D-mannose is found in cranberries, cranberries do not contain enough of the sugar to have the same effect.
At the same time, cranberry extract contains proanthocyanidins that also prevent E. coli from adhering to the urethra
and bladder. Cranberry extract also has a potent immune-stimulating effect. The two, when taken together, produce a beneficial synergistic effect on the urinary tract system.
How does E. coli invade the bladder in the first place?
You can get a very bad case of food poisoning from E. coli contamination, which is why you see signs in restaurant and grocery restrooms demanding all food workers to wash their hands, but with the exception of a few, rare dangerous forms, E. coli is a healthy part of our normal bowel bacteria. The problem is, when E-coli exits the bowel, where it belongs, going into the bladder, you can get a UTI. The bacteria first travel to the urethra (the canal through which urine is discharged from the bladder) and this can happen in a number of ways:
- In young girls it may occur when they wipe from back to front, instead of from front to back.
- A woman’s urethra is short and its opening is near the anus, which allows E. coli quick access to the bladder.
- In some women sexual intercourse seems to set the stage for an E-coli invasion.
Women who use a diaphragm are more likely to develop a UTI than women who use other forms of birth control. Recently, researchers found that women whose partners use a condom with spermicidal foam also tend to have growth of E. coli bacteria in the vagina.
- Catheters placed in the urethra and bladder often allow invasion of E. coli.
The natural flow of things
The urinary system is structured to rid the body of waste matter. Urine, which is sterile, leaves the kidneys and travels down two thin tubes called ureters to the bladder. The ureters are about eight to 10 inches long. Muscles in the ureter walls constantly tighten and relax to force urine downward away from the kidneys. The ureters and bladder normally prevent urine from backing up toward the kidneys and the flow of urine from the bladder helps wash bacteria out of the body. The prostate gland in men produces secretions that slow bacterial growth, and immune defenses in both men and women prevent infection. Despite these safeguards, urinary tract infections are a serious health problem affecting millions of people each year.
Although D-mannose is still relatively unknown in the mainstream medical community, and it has not been tested in human trials, thousands of people who suffer from urinary tract infections swear by its ability to prevent and heal UTIs. Additionally, health practitioners “in the know” have had great results when prescribing it for their patients who have had to resort to antibiotics in the past.
References:
- Bouckaert J, et. al. Receptor binding studies disclose a novel class of high-affinity inhibitors of the Escherichia coli FimH adhesin.Mol Microbiol. 2005 Jan;55(2):441-55.
- Ofek I, Goldhar J. Eshdat Y, Sharon N. The importance of mannose specific adhesins (lectins) in infections caused by Escherichia coli. Scand J Infect Dis Suppl 1982;33:61-7.
- Michaels EK, Chmiel JS, Plotkin BJ, Schaeffer AJ.Effect of D-mannose and D-glucose on Escherichia coli bacteriuria in rats. Urol Res 1983;11:97–102.
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