109 - Cranberries for UTIs and a New Menopause Treatment

The Body of Evidence

Can cranberry juice help prevent UTIs… or will any liquid do? Also: a new drug has been tested to treat the symptoms of menopause and it looks pretty good. As Chris and Jonathan appraise these studies, you will learn about the importance of placebo arms in clinical trials.

Correction: it turns out that urine is not sterile. Even the bladder has bacteria in it! https://www.livescience.com/health/is-pee-sterile

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Assistant researcher: Aigul Zaripova, MD

Theme music: “Fall of the Ocean Queen“ by Joseph Hackl

Rod of Asclepius designed by Kamil J. Przybos

Chris’ book, Does Coffee Cause Cancer?: https://ecwpress.com/products/does-coffee-cause-cancer

Obviously, Chris is not your doctor (probably). This podcast is not medical advice for you; it is what we call information.

References:

1) The network meta-analysis published in European Urology Focus on cranberries to prevent UTIs: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405456924001226

2) The 2023 meta-analysis on cranberries for UTIs: https://www.cochrane.org/CD001321/RENAL_cranberries-preventing-urinary-tract-infections

3) Write-up on the recent meta-analysis in Medscape: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/its-juice-cranberries-uti-prevention-2024a1000ei4?ecd=mkm_ret_240814_mscpmrk-OUS_ICYMI_CA_etid6740662&uac=300018BV&impID=6740662

4) The OASIS 1 and 2 trials on elinzanetant for menopausal vasomotor symptoms: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2822766