Been mislead by science and media who can we trust?

Question

Cranberry madness in the media.  After digging around I found this.  Take a look at the dates and the sudden U turn the BBC makes.. 

Science Daily:- July 25, 2008 reports How Cranberry Juice Can Prevent Urinary Tract Infections..  A new study by researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.. reveals that the juice changes the thermodynamic properties of bacteria in the urinary tract, creating an energy barrier that prevents the microorganisms from getting close enough to latch onto cells and initiate an infection.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080721152005.htm

Aug. 23, 2010 -- Scientists report that within eight hours of drinking cranberry juice, the juice could help prevent bacteria from developing into an infection in the urinary tract. Source Worcester Polytechnic Institute 

(link removed due 10 link limit)

BBC News:-Jul 10, 2012 – Juice cocktail 'good for heart' · Urinary tract infection. Drinking cranberry juice to prevent urine infections does work say medical experts.. Source The National Taiwan University Hospital Laboratory studies have shown the anti-adhesion activity of cranberry on bladder bacteria lasts for around eight hours after ingestion, which suggests a few doses a day might be ideal.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18768320

Here is the sudden U turn 3 months later.. 

Cranberry juice 'not effective' against cystitis. BBC News, October 17 2012.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-19976651


ok lets track this condundrum see what if anything can be found... 

Apr. 30, 2012  Antimicrobial Resistance for Common Urinary Tract Infection Drug Increases Five Fold Since 2000 Science Daily. 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120430152125.htm

Antibiotic Resistance Increasing With Urinary Tract Infection Treatment 12 Oct 2012 MNT (Medical News Today)

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/251462.php

So its becoming resistant too normal methods. So why isn't cranberry natures remedy been touted. why all of a sudden across major new networks do we see this??? 

Cranberry juice is not effective against cystitis, say scientists. The Independent, October 17 2012

Link to this On NHS link (limited to 10 links )

'Myth' of cranberry cure for infections: Sufferers would have to drink two glasses a day for months to gain any benefit. Daily Mail, October 17 2012

See NHS site for link (10 link limit so removed)

abcnews:- Oct 17, 2012 – Cranberry Juice No Good for Bladder Infections..  Researchers at Sterling University 

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/cranberry-juice-good-bladder-infections/story?id=17492426

NHS own site.  Thursday October 18 2012.. Cranberry juice 'won't prevent' bladder infections... This updated review comes from the respected Cochrane Collaboration.. 

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2012/10October/Pages/Cranberry-juice-no-good-in-preventing-bladder-infections.aspx

Oct 19, 2012 – From Yahoo! News: Scottish researchers have shot down a popular home remedy believed to have infection-fighting properties. Source Sterling University. 

http://news.yahoo.com/cranberry-juice-unlikely-prevent-urinary-tract-infections-152900241.html

Wow the time line is suspect major news companies tv and newspapers all release on the same day... 17th Oct 2012.  What is going on???

 Check this out. oooh so quiet announcement of a new UTI treatment. Why was it not mentioned like the trashing of cranberries supposed affects..  

 Fri, Aug 17, 2012.. Chemists have come up with new treatment for urinary tract infections (UTIs) that avoids the use of antibiotics. Beat Ernst, Ph.D., of Switzerland's University of Basel, led a research team whose conclusions appeared in an American Chemical Society podcast. Their new approach caused excitement in the scientific community because by not including antibiotics, it avoids completely the growing issue of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to Medical News Today. The potential treatment works by preventing bacteria from sticking to the inside of the bladder.

http://news.yahoo.com/urinary-tract-infection-treatment-avoids-antibiotics-170700006.html

August 13, 2012 Beat Ernst, Ph.D. claims.. “We developed substances that target bacteria virulence factors, keeping them from sticking to the inside of the urinary bladder. Therefore, the microbes are not able to launch an infection. In addition, this new class of antimicrobials is expected to have a reduced potential for the emergence of resistant microbes.”

http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=2105&content_id=CNBP_030492&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=624c1cb0-07cf-4baf-90b8-f91784c8889e

WTF..  years of research showed cranberries doing the exact same thing. Science claims the exact same thing but trashes the natural source and remedy. Shame on Science for trying to mislead us?

Gary H · Accepted Answer

As first answer suggests...   The biggest problem with science is that it is carried out by human beings.   So, yes, shame on science because somebody made a mistake or because they were "encouraged" to leak their findings to the media before there as a chance for the scientific method to work and confirm the validity of the study.  Shame on science for "sinking so low" as to take funding from organizations (run by humans) which might have ulterior motives, such as trying to increase sales of a product by "scientifically" showing that it prevents disease or makes your wrinkles disappear or makes you grow your hair back or makes your "junk" work better or makes you more attractive to the opposite sex. 

What are we to do???   Learn to think about what you are reading and seeing in the media, if you are interested in something, do some research on other studies , consider the sources, consider who is funding these studies, ask yourself if there is any potential conflict of interest.   We each have a responsibility to be good informed citizens and not simply believe everything we are told.

science teacher · Answer

cranberries help some people with UTI
studies have gone both ways as you mentioned
groups are different
situations are different
even the cranberries are different
research  continues on this as well as many other things and more is found out daily. 
Sometimes the research is skued by who did it or other influences

adaviel · Answer

After 10 years, half of what you know is wrong
After 20 years, three-quarters of it

Or maybe not that much, in medicine - the estimated half-life of truth for clinical statements in the surgical literature was calculated to be 45 years.

Posydon · Answer

No one was trying to mislead anyone. as new research emerges corrections are made to what we assumed to be correct before

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Been mislead by science and media who can we trust?

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