Research at a Scottish university has questioned the effectiveness of cranberry juice in protecting women against a painful bladder infection.

BBC: Cranberry juice 'not effective' against cystitis

Prince Philip subsequently spent five nights in hospital with a bladder infection.

BBC: Queen's message praises 2012 'army of volunteers'

This not only reduces incontinence, but also the risk of bladder infection.

ECONOMIST: We can rebuild him. We have the technology

Before the bladder infection, which he initially contracted during events marking the queen's diamond jubilee, he spent four nights in a hospital over the Christmas holiday last year for treatment of a blocked coronary artery.

CNN: UK's Prince Philip, 91, released from hospital

U. patients develop a bladder infection.

NEWYORKER: The Checklist

To illustrate how things go awry, the authors offer anecdotes from their own emergency rooms, such as doctors who focused on cardiac issues for a woman who has fainted, when listening more carefully to her complaints might have quickly uncovered the real problem: a dangerous infection in her gall bladder.

WSJ: The Health Reader: Listen Up, Doc

Cranberry juice is said to alleviate cystitis, a stinging inflammation of the bladder usually caused by a urinary tract infection (UTI).

BBC: Cranberry juice 'not effective' against cystitis