For the million or so Britons who suffer urinary tract infections (UTIs) every year, the symptoms are all too familiar: discomfort, rushing to the loo and a burning sensation when peeing.
And although antibiotics are routinely prescribed, many patients – more commonly women than men – either find the drugs don’t always cure the problem or the infections quickly return.
But experts now believe these debilitating infections could, in some cases, be prevented and treated with a dietary supplement costing as little as 50p a day.
In her Mail on Sunday column last week, Dr Ellie Cannon wrote that, despite being sceptical about supplements in general, she’d been impressed by patients’ experiences with one called D-mannose.
In response, dozens of readers sent messages detailing how taking it had dramatically improved their health.
Jane Ellaby, 75, from near Sheffield, struggled for years with the bladder infection cystitis – until D-mannose banished her symptoms. She said: ‘I’ve recommended this supplement to several friends who’ve also had positive results.’
Maureen Mathieson, 57, from Ayrshire, has taken D-mannose for five years. She said: ‘I regularly suffered from UTIs which made me miserable – despite repeatedly taking antibiotics. A nurse suggested D-mannose and it’s been really successful.’
And for Elaine Leake, 75, from Durham, up to six bladder infections a year also meant regular antibiotics – until a urologist recommended D-mannose. She said: ‘I haven’t had a bladder infection since April 2021.’
According to Dr Cat Anderson, a GP and specialist in women’s health, the benefits can’t be overstated.
She says: ‘People who haven’t suffered UTIs tend to underestimate how devastating they can be. At worst, patients can be peeing up to 50 times a day: they don’t sleep, they become depressed and run-down, their immune system takes a hit.
‘Finding something like D-mannose that actually helps is incredibly valuable.’
Each year more than a million Britons, 80 per cent of them women, develop a UTI in either the bladder, urethra (the tube carrying urine out of the bladder) or kidneys. Most are caused by bacteria in the urinary tract – with E.coli responsible for up to 90 per cent of cases.
D-mannose is a form of sugar molecule found in some fruits and vegetables – and is sold as a dietary supplement, in tablets or powder form.
It is not absorbed by the body and is quickly excreted in urine. Experts who back its use believe that, while passing through the urinary tract, the molecule binds to harmful bacteria which are then flushed away before they can cause infection.
Dr Anderson says: ‘It’s a bit like rolling a sticky dough-ball in flour. The bacteria – especially E.coli – bind to the D-mannose molecules rather than to bladder cells.’
However, scientific research is divided on D-mannose, and it is not prescribed on the NHS.
A study earlier this year by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) concluded it does not prevent UTIs.
But a German study published in 2022 in the journal Antibiotics, found that, in patients with acute cystitis, D-mannose produced ‘very good clinical cure rates’.
Dr Anderson is confident that more in-depth research will conclusively prove the value of the supplement.
She says: ‘You have to pump millions into high-grade clinical trials, but UTIs aren’t an area like cancer or heart disease that attracts funding. But if these trials were performed, I can guarantee D-mannose would deliver.
‘Until then, there’s nothing better than experiential evidence – speaking to patients and listening to what they say works.’
Ased Ali, a consultant urological surgeon at Pinderfields Hospital in West Yorkshire and also a member of the medical panel for charity Bladder Health UK, says that as D-mannose has a low risk of side effects it should be considered for patients plagued by UTIs.
He adds: ‘I’ve seen some very positive results in practice. Given its low risk, I think it’s reasonable to consider D-mannose as part of a broader approach to UTI prevention.’
It’s certainly something MoS reader Sue Molt, 75, from Rochdale, would recommend. She wrote: ‘Finally I found something that helped my problem – and I’ve never looked back.’
