What is Cranberry:?

Cranberry is an evergreen shrub. Cranberries shrub is up to 2 meters long and 5 to 20 cm in height, and they have small evergreen leaves. The color of the flowers is dark pink. The fruit is a berry and the colour of the fruit is Red. The fruit is larger than its leaves. It is an edible fruit once it rips completely but its taste is acidic. The botanical name for the cranberry is Vaccinium macrocarpon.

How does cranberry grow: In the past, Cranberry natural shrub beds grown in wetlands. However, now days it cultivated under the shallow level of the water also but for certain phases only. These beds are called bogs. An acidic peaty soil is necessary for cranberry bog to give fruitful berries. Cranberry natural shrub all the species having 360 degree fighting effect.

Cranberry is mainly cultivated in the unites states of America (The USA), The United Kingdom (The UK), Canada, and Chile. All these species of cranberry are potentially effective at 360 degree.

Specific role of Cranberry in UTI (Urinary tract infection):

The urinary tract infection is a deadly disease and affects more than 150 million across the world. Since several decades Cranberry genus like Vaccinium, and species V xycoccus, V macrocarpon etcetera has been used as herbal medicine to stop UTI. Cranberry natural shrub all the species having 360 degree fighting effect.

In many studies long year back, cranberry was found to intervene with the attachment of bacteria to uroepithelial cells, due to this attribute it preventing infection deeply.

In the year of 1989, A group of Proanthocyanidins (PACs) compound were identified as a chemical compound with the potential to suppress or obstruct the adherence of Pfimbriated Escherichia coli (E. Coli) into the urogenital mucosa, and there are more than hundreds of different compounds found in cranberries that have yet to be discover for their potential anti-adherence activity.

People mostly affect the cystitis form of UTI. Cystitis means inflammation of the urinary system. This is a type of infection and it spread to any part of the urinary tract system i.e Bladder, Kidney, and urethra.

UTI is a very dangerous infection if not treated at the earliest. Bladder is a very sensitive organ so it affected by this deadly disease mostly. Bacteria is the main cause of this infection. In addition, E. Coli (Escherichia coli) bacteria is primarily responsible for causing this infection. Moreover, it is increasing the healthcare cost, and mortality percentage is increasing also day by around the world. 

Other Benefits of Cranberry:

Besides UTI treatment, this shrub is used in many other indications. In the past decades, Folks around the world used cranberries to treat UTI but people have also used this fruit in their food because it helps to heal the wound infection and also for blood poisoning treatment.

Cranberry leaves also very useful and it has been used to treat diarrhoea and metabolic disorder such as diabetes mellitus.

Properties of Cranberry:

This amazing natural herb has numerous properties to mitigate the disease from human life and provide health benefits to people. These properties are given below:

(1) Healing: The cranberry has a great healing property that renders people living longer. Moreover, The MOA of recovery is based on preventing bacterial attachment to host cell surface membranes.

(2) Anti-inflammatory: Important chemicals found in the cranberry are Proanthocyanidin oligomers, flavonol and anthocyanin glycosides, and triterpenoids. All these have anticancer qualities which obstruct the growth of cancer cells.

The mechanisms of action (MOA) of cranberry phytochemicals are (1) Induces of cell death in tumor cells, (2) it decreased the activity of ornithine decarboxylase, (3) it reduces the expression of matrix metalloproteinases associated with prostate tumor metastasis, (4) anti-inflammatory activities including inhibition of cyclooxygenases.

In Vivo practical of animal models reveals that cranberry extracts can slow down the growth of two important markers and those markers were C-reactive protein (CRP) and proinflammatory interleukins.

(3) Anticancer: It slows down the growth of cancer metastasis due to the antioxidant property of The Cranberries. This natural shrub is rich in flavonoids like proanthocyanidins and flavonols.

It was mentioned in many journals after conducting the clinical trials that Both (proanthocyanidins and flavonols) are having curing effects on cancer and heart-related diseases. Cardiac issues and Cancer are the main reason for mortality in today’s world, so Cranberry is the new hope.

Quercetin contains more than half of the flavonols in cranberries. It was reported that quercetin inhibited the growth of human cancer cells.

(4) Antioxidant property: The cranberries shrub possesses anthocyanins. Due to this ingredient cranberries are used as an antioxidant because anthocyanins have antioxidant properties. Most of the research conducted over time illustrated that more than 50% of the O2 radical clearing strength of cranberries was due to the characteristics of anthocyanins.

Anthocyanins are the hallmark in the cranberries herb. Moreover, antioxidant quality of cranberry fruit plays a significant role in to limit the growth of the cell in the disease like cancer and was proven that it also used in vascular disease as well.

Therapeutic Dosages: It depends on preparation and indication.

Cranberry extracts tablets: 300 to 400 mg twice daily (1 tablet) with unsweetened juice or water.

Dose for an Adult patient: By PO route means Oral route

Therapeutic Indication: For Urinary Tract Infection (Bladder, Kidney, and Urethra)

Dose: (1)120-800 mg OD (once a day) or BD (twice a day) cranberry tablet or capsule formulation.

(2) Capsule 400 mg BID by water or unsweetened juice

Juice: Cranberry juice 120-300 mL TID (three times a day) can be helpful.

Dose for Paediatrics patient: Cranberry extracts 120 mg taken once a day for two months to children 12-18 years of age.

Therapeutic Indication: To prevent Urinary Tract Infection (Bladder, Kidney, and Urethra).

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Pharmacoeconomic: The cost of a medicine is an important factor for social economic patient to purchase a medicine. If cost is high of a drug, then only rich people are able to buy that particular medicine, so medicine should be cheap. However, cranberry is a natural herb so it does not cost much.

The cost of cranberry capsule around 161 INR or 2.50 $ for 10 capsule pack, cranberry tablet cost varies company to company, and Cranberry juice price starts from 106 INR or 1.50 $.

Side Effect: It may enhance urinary oxalate levels, so kidney patients take the precaution and consult with a physician or Clinical Pharmacist before taking the cranberry formulation.

It may cause GI upset and diarrhea as well (All are in overdoses).

Contraindication: People complain of Kidney stones and it is the main issue that contradicts the patient health and well-being so the patient must be aware.

Drug Interaction: Cranberry can interact with warfarin- it may increase the bleeding risk because Warfarin is a blood thinner drug and prevent clotting but if it is used with cranberry then it slows down the anticoagulant property of warfarin.

Precaution: Pregnant and lactating women (Life-threatening risk involved from the first trimester so please consult with a physician or clinical pharmacist before use of cranberry any formulation), Acute or chronic kidney patients, patients who have a history of allergy or hypersensitivity to cranberries.

Conclusion: Finally, this natural herb is safe and effective in UTI infection for both gender. It has been seen in the studies that Cranberries all the formulations were effective to reduce the risk of any infection in UTI which occurred by Bacteria like Escherichia coli.

Moreover, this is also found that consumption of cranberry is good for overall health because this herbal product possesses plenty of great qualities which help to balance the lifestyle disease. In today’s scenarios cranberry is widely used to mitigate the disease. This planet is fortunate that it has such kind of mysterious fruit which counterattack the diseases.

What is the Diabetes?

Diabetes is metabolic disorder and in this blood glucose level increased, abnormalities in carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism. As a result, it causes defects in secretion of insulin and sensitivity with insulin or both”.

The Diabetes word originated from a Greek word, which meant a “Siphon”. Aretus the Cappadocian, who is a Greek doctor named this condition diabainein. He illustrated a patient who was passing too much urine (polyuria) – like a siphon. Thus, the term is coined as Diabetes.

In the simple term diabetes is a disease where the sugar level increases or decreases in our blood. It mainly happens due to the defects in the pancreas B-cell of Langerhans. As a result, the pancreas is unable to secrete insulin or it secretes little insulin and the body is unable to pick up it.

Diabetes has several names like Diabetes mellitus (DM), Sugar etcetera.

Types of diabetes?

Diabetes is mainly three types:

(1) Type- 1 Diabetes: It is also called insulin-dependent diabetes (IDD).
(2) Type- 2 Diabetes: It is also called non-insulin-dependent diabetes (NIDD).
(3) Gestational diabetes: It only occurs in women during the pregnancy period.

(1) What is type-1 diabetes: First of all, It is an autoimmune disease and in this human immune system of the body mistakenly destroys the insulin-making beta cells of Langerhans in the pancreas. It is usually detected in children (fatty especially) and adolescents but nowadays it is diagnosed with young folks as well. As a result, more children were diagnosed in the past and diagnosing at presently with Type-1, so extra care is needed for obese children.

For so many years plenty of papers was published on diabetic research but the pathogenesis of type-1 is still not identified. However, diabetic researchers believe that it might be due to genetics and environmental factors which leads to either lowered insulin action or dropped insulin secretion at a certain level.

(2) What is type-2 diabetes: Nowadays Type-II diabetes is the most common disease in this world. The adult’s ages fall between 28 to 35 were most affected by this lifestyle disease. It occurs when the sensitivity of target tissues to insulin is decreased.

(3) What is Gestational diabetes (GD): GD simply means diabetes during the pregnancy period. In the past several studies were conducted but still, the pathophysiology of diabetes is unknown. In many studies, it was mentioned that GD occurs during pregnancy because of insulin signalling pathway inside the body was dysregulated and affected somehow. In addition, it also happened due to the use of steroid medicines and the long-term use of psychiatric drugs.

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Causes and Risk Factors of Diabetes:

(1) Family history of Diabetes: This is a very important cause of it because if any family member has diabetes, others have more chances to get this deadly disease. We need to be more cautious and keep checking time to time their blood sugar level. Besides, eating habits must be changed, and do not eat more potatoes, sweets, rice, and avoid eating junk food as well. You can drink Tea but it should be limited.

(2) Genetically: It is playing a crucial role in having this dangerous disease. Any person can get this disease if anyone has diabetes-causing genes in their family.

(3) Body Weight: Weight of the body is the biggest cause and risk factor to diagnose diabetes. Fatty people are more prone to get both types of DM. Nowadays, fatty children are more susceptible to getting type-1, and the incidence rate is high at present.

(4) Alcohol: Excessive use of alcohol is a risk factor for DM. It can damage the liver and B-cells of Langerhans present in the liver, so once liver damage more chances to get diabetes. Please try to get rid of your alcohol drinking habit. Instead of drinking alcohol, better to drink any fruit juice For instance Guava, Orange, Apple, Kiwi etc.

(5) Smoking: It is found that smoking (Cigarette and Bidi) is a possible factor to get any type of diabetes. If anyone doing it, please tell him/her to leave it and get rid of the smoking.

(6) Physical Exercise: Exercise is very necessary to combat DM. Any form of exercise of your body is very-very important to maintain the glucose level under the control. Any diabetic person can do any physical exercise for instance- Yoga, Gym, Running, Cycling, playing sports etcetera.

(7) Diet plan: To manage diabetes at a great level, every diabetic patient must make a schedule for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They must include those eating items in their diet which does not increase the sugar level. For their diet plan they must consult a Dietician, Clinical Pharmacist (Doctor of Pharmacy), and Physician (Diabetologist) (For more detail, please visit For Diabetes Patient – Your’s Own Blogs (healthdhana.com).

Diagnosis: All types of diabetes diagnoses are made based on plasma blood level. The plasma blood level is mainly judged on fasting blood sugar level, post-prandial blood sugar level, and finally HbA1C level. In the HbA1C level, three months of blood sugar level need to check.

Signs & Symptoms:

Polyuria. Polyuria means excessive urination.
Polydipsia. It means Excessive thirst.

Polyphagia. This patient Feels too hungry.
Unexplained weight loss

The wound heals very slowly
Numbness/tingling in the legs or hands
Feel Weakness after working
Irritability

Treatment options:

Pharmacological: There are several medications available to treat DM. Important medications are given below:

Biguanides: Metformin is the main drug of choice in this class of medication. This is a very effective medication for type-2 diabetes.

Mechanism of Action (MOA): It enhances insulin sensitivity of both hepatic and peripheral (muscle) tissues. It permits for more uptake of glucose inside these insulin-sensitive tissues.
Side Effects: Abdominal discomfort, Stomach upset, Diarrhea, Anorexia, and a metallic taste.

Sulfonylurea: It is another class of medication. Glyburide and Glipizide are the two main drugs in this class. Glyburide is the long-acting sulfonylurea and Glipizide is the short-acting sulfonylurea.

Mechanism of Action (MOA): It acts by stimulating the pancreatic secretion of Insulin.

Side Effects: Hypoglycaemia, Weight gain etcetera.

Thiazolidinediones: Pioglitazone, Rosiglitazone, etc. are the medicine of this class.
These PPAR-Y agonists, a nuclear transcription factor important in fat cell differentiation and fatty acid metabolism.

Mechanism of Action (MOA): It enhances insulin sensitivity in muscle, liver, and fat tissue indirectly.

Side effects: Weight gain, myalgia, mild anaemia, and headache.

Alpha-Glucosidase Inhibitors: Acarbose, Miglitol, and Guar gum are the main medicine of this class.

Mechanism of Action (MOA): These agents prevent the breakdown of sucrose and complex carbohydrates in the small intestine thereby prolonging the absorption of carbohydrates.
Thus, the net effect is a reduction in the postprandial glucose concentrations while fasting glucose levels are relatively unchanged.

Side effects: Abdominal discomfort, and diarrhoea etcetera.

Insulin: Insulin is mainly recommended for Type-1 Diabetes. Insulin has so many types of variety. These are mentioned below:

Rapid Acting Insulin: The administration happens subcutaneously 15 mins before or immediately after a meal. It acts within 15-30 minutes.
Example- Insulin Aspart, Lispro

Intermediate Acting Insulin: Intermediate-acting insulin preparations are usually given once or twice a day.

– Onset: 1–3-hour, Peak: 5–8-hour, Duration: up to 18 hours.

Example: NPH (Neutral Protamine Hagedorn)

Short-Acting Insulin: It is advised to take 30-45 mins before meals.

– It acts within 30 minutes to 1hours.

Example: Regular Insulin

Long-Acting insulin: This analog is produced by substitution of glycine for asparagine at position B30.

– It works when rapid-acting insulin stop working, then long-acting insulin lowers the blood glucose level.

– Injected subcutaneously once daily at bedtime. It is initiated at an average dose of 10 units once daily and is subsequently adjusted according to patient need, to a total daily dose ranging from 2-100 units.

Example: Insulin glargine, Ultra Lente insulin, and insulin detemir.

Non-Pharmacological:

– Protein diet
– Meal planning
– Eating Snacks between short intervals
– Weight reduction

– Physical Exercise
– Yoga
– Running
– Cycling

Golden Tricks to Manage Diabetes: Sugar or Diabetes or DM disease cannot be a cure but it can be managed. There is no medicine come till now which cures it. However, there is plenty of medicine that can control diabetes. These medicines especially bring down the blood glucose level at the normal range. 

There are some golden tricks to manage diabetes are mentioned below: 

•  Check your sugar level daily
• Check your fasting sugar level in the morning before taking food (empty stomach).

Lower Limb Amputation
Heart-disease like stroke, heart attack
Blood vessels damage

Take Away:

(1) When any person on this planet diagnoses with this disease, please do not take any kind of Stress or Tension like how it happens? Why does it happen this young age or old age? How my blood glucose reading comes more than the normal range? What will happen in the future? Etcetera; Please leave all these questions because diabetes is a complex disease, and no one knows who will be next to diagnose this deadly disease. Please be calm and think diabetes is a manageable disease and I will manage it. I am enough strong to control this disease.

(2) Physical exercise is key to managing Diabetes.

(3) Do not eat sweet food, sweets, and other sweet items because sugar levels will be skyrocketed, so please avoid taking them.

(4) Sugar level monitoring is mandatory every day, every week, and every month. Please do according to your comfort and write a record, and save the lab values in a notebook, notepad, mobile phone, and laptop.

(5) If sugar level increases beyond the normal range consult your family physician and reach out to the nearby hospital.

(6) Say NO to Sugar or an Abundance of Sweet fruit or food.

Conclusion: Diabetes is called a sweet poison so do not take it lightly. It is a complex disease and treatment depends upon how well you are managing it. The complication of this disease is very high so after diagnosis of the disease, the patient must be aware of it and control the blood sugar level.