Natural treatment for urinary tract infections
Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common and distressing disease that affects up to 50 percent of all women and girls (and a much smaller number of men and boys) over the course of a lifetime. Each year, UTIs are responsible for 10 million doctor visits. Some people seem to be more susceptible than others; women who have suffered one UTI are very likely to experience a recurrence from time to time.
Some UTIs are merely painful (sometimes very painful) and annoying. However, other UTIs—especially if they're chronic, recurrent, or not treated promptly and properly—can be quite dangerous. Under these conditions, bacteria may ascend to the kidneys , where infection can lead to serious damage and even kidney failure.
Conventional medical treatment of UTIs involves the use of antibiotics. While these drugs are usually – but not always – effective, curing most infections in a few days, they also have some important drawbacks:
• Antibiotics are equal-opportunity microbe killers. Although they usually make quick work of the UTI-causing bugs, they don't just stop there. They also kill millions of other “friendly” bacteria that belong in the body where they serve numerous important functions.
• Because they kill off friendly bacteria living in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, antibiotics can cause unwanted side effects, such as diarrhea, constipation, nausea, and occasionally, vomiting. If enough friendly bacteria are killed, “not-so-friendly” yeasts, molds, and bacteria —all of which can produce unwanted toxins—are encouraged to take their places. Since friendly bacteria normally produce significant amounts of several vitamins—folic acid and vitamin K are the best-known examples—antibiotic use can contribute to long-term hidden vitamin deficiency.
See Culturelle, Lactobacillus GG (LGG) - 30 Caps - for replacing friendly bacteria.
• In addition, many women who take antibiotics (to treat UTI or any other infection) soon come to expect that they will develop a vaginal yeast infection requiring them to take yet another drug – this time an antifungal—to kill the yeast. The reason is that friendly bacteria that normally inhabit the vagina keep the yeast (usually Candida albicans) population under control. Once these friendly bacteria are taken out of the picture by the antibiotic, the yeast organisms are free to grow unchecked.
• Although most of us can tolerate antibiotics without immediate side effects, every year a few people are rushed to the hospital because of allergic reactions to these drugs.
• Lastly, the use of antibiotics promotes the development of bacterial species that are able to resist these drugs. Bacteria are very clever in their ability to mutate genes, making themselves “immune” to the effects of antibiotics. Those bacteria that have become immune then pass this ability on to their offspring or other bacteria. The likelihood that resistant bacteria will develop is enhanced by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics. The development of antibiotic—resistant bacteria is a major problem in medicine today that has many experts fearing the inevitable arrival of a “superbug” resistant to all known antibiotic drugs.
D-Mannose: The Natural Alternative to Antibiotics for Urinary Tract Infections
D-mannose, a simple sugar and close cousin of glucose, can cure more than 90 percent of all UTIs within 1 to 2 days. Even more remarkably, D-mannose accomplishes this feat without killing a single bacterium! Exactly how it does this will be explained later. Suffice it to say that, because it gets rid of UTI-causing bacteria without committing “bacteria-cide,” people who use it suffer none of the unwanted side effects of antibiotics: no GI problems, no yeast infections, no resistant bacteria. In fact, D-mannose has no adverse side effects of any kind.
As a bonus, D-mannose actually tastes good. Where a “spoonful of sugar” helped the medicine go down in Mary Poppins’s day, with D-mannose, a spoonful of sugar is the medicine.
Because it is so effective and so benign, women (even pregnant women) who are susceptible to recurrent UTIs can safely take D-mannose as a preventive measure to head off future attacks. D-mannose is also ideally suited for children with UTIs. Because it tastes so good (it is a sugar, after all!), children actually enjoy taking it.
Although D-mannose is virtually unknown to practitioners of conventional medicine, many research reports have demonstrated its mode of action and effectiveness against E. coli, the microorganism that causes most UTIs. Moreover, nearly 15 years of clinical experience have shown that it is just about as effective at curing UTIs as antibiotic drugs.
At first glance, D-mannose may sound too good to be true: a “medicine” that’s highly effective, perfectly safe, pleasant to use, inexpensive, and available without a doctor’s prescription. Yet, it is true! Unlike virtually any conventional medication, and many natural or “alternative” treatments as well, D-mannose has no known drawbacks.
Try D-Mannose First!
Ninety percent of the time, UTI is caused by E. coli and will respond to D-mannose treatment with significant symptom reduction within 24 hours. (Even though symptoms are improved within 24 hours, D-mannose should be continued for 2 to 3 days after the last symptom is gone, just to “make sure.”)
Dosage:
One level teaspoon (4.7 grams) in four to six ounces of cold water.
Caution:
If a UTI treated with D-mannose does not show significant improvement within 24 hours (about 10 percent of cases), it is likely that the causative organism is not E. coli, and a visit to the doctor for a conventional antibiotic may therefore be in order.
| Product Specifications: |
Serving Size: 1 Level Teaspoon (4.8 grams)
Serving Per Container: 30 |
| Amount Per Serving: | % Daily Value |
| Calories | 12 | Calories from fat | 0 |
|
| Total Fat |
| 0 |
| 0% |
| Total Carbohydrate |
| 3.5 g |
| 1% |
| Sugars |
| 2.5 g |
| * |
| Xylitol |
| 1 g |
| * |
| Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) |
| 60 mg | | 100% |
|
| D-Mannose | | 1,500 mg |
| *
| |
| Cranberry |
| 800 mg |
| * |
| (vaccinium macrocarpon) extract (fruit) |
| *Daily Value not established |
Other Ingredients: Natural mixed berry flavor, xylitol, citric acid, silicon dioxide and stevia extract.
Contains no added starch, salt, wheat, gluten, corn,
coloring, dairy products, or preservatives.
Keep container tightly closed in a cool,
dry and dark place. Keep out of reach of children. |
