Essay - Cranberries (Vaccinium Macrocarpon) are Indigenous to North America and Have...

cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon) are indigenous to North America and have been used in traditional Native American medicine for centuries if not millennia. Related ***** blueberries and rhododendrons, the North American cranberry is a bog fruit commonly used as a culinary fruit. However, ***** small berries and leaves of the cranberry plant have also been used in ***** medicine for a multitude ***** purposes including "wounds, urinary disorders, diarrhea, diabetes, stomach ailments, ***** liver problems," (NCCAM). Scient*****ic investigations into the medicinal benefits of cranberries ***** ***** mostly inconclusive, although like most fruits the cranberry does contain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants ***** is fully safe (Natural Standard Research Collaboration 2006).

Cranberries have attracted the attention ***** researchers because of their potential use as a prevention for urin*****ry tract infections. ***** ***** seem to support the cranberry's role in preventing urinary ***** infections ***** the fruit contains "chemicals that prevent bacteria from sticking to ***** tract cells," (Mirkin). Moreover, Mirkin writes ***** Quackwatch, an online resource dedicated to debunking medical myths and clarifying misleading information about natural and alternative *****. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) echoes Mirkin's claim "that components found in cranberry may prevent bacteria, such as E. coli, from clinging to the cells along the walls of ***** urinary tract and causing infection." *****, the mechanism(s) by which this is possible has yet to be ***** understood and more research is necessary if medical science is to embrace the ***** either as a *****ative or curative food.

A recent study may help explain more spec*****ically why cranberries have been shown to minimize the adherence ***** bacteria to uroepithelial *****. Liu, Gallardo-Moreno, Pinzon-Arango, Reynolds, Rogriguez, & Camesano (2008) that found that "cranberry juice disrupts bacterial ligand-UC receptor binding." A study by Liu, Black, Caron & Camesano (2006) demonstrated "molecular-level changes in the surfaces of P-fimbriated E. coli upon exposure to neutralized cranberry juice." In o*****r words, ***** juice affects bacterial adhesion at the molecular level.

***** ability ***** cranberry to inhibit ***** adherence has been studied for decades and offers researchers the most promising evidence that ***** do offer significant medical benefits. As early as 1984, research revealed the anti-bacterial adherence properties of the ***** fruit. Prior to ***** 1980s, most researchers hypothesized ***** the potential for cranberries to prevent urinary tract infection was due to urine acidification. However, the theory that acid/alkaline theory of disease ***** since been robustly debunked (Mirkin). Sobota (*****) ***** that cranberry juice significantly inhibited bacterial adherence.

Most studies on the effects of ***** on bacterial adherence ***** cranberry ***** cocktails, and not pure ex*****ed cranberries. Future research should use pure cranberries or a standardized extract ***** ensure valid results and also to minimize ***** effect of c*****taminating variables especially the higher sugar content in ***** juice ***** than ***** plain ***** ***** a standardized extract. Isolating which types of bacteria cranberries inhibit adhesion of in addition to E. Coli would also boost research validity. Researchers ***** also want to discover whether cranberries