Lower Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) are infections that affect the bladder and cause cystitis which is the inflammation of the bladder commonly caused by bacterial infections which is more prevalent in women than in men. This inflammation of the bladder can go up to the kidney causing Pyelonephritis ( pyelonephritis is a type of urinary tract infection (UTI) that affects either one or both kidneys usually caused by bacteria that enter the urinary tract through the urethra and bladder and then spread to the kidneys). An article by Martha Medina and Edgardo Castillo-Pino published on Therapeutic Advances in Urology shows that the lifetime incidence of UTIs is about 50−60% in adult women.
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Just as I said before, Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is more common in women than in men because they have shorter urethra causing the bacteria to get into it. UTIs are gotten commonly with feces where bacteria (Intestinal bacteria) such as E.coli gets into the urinary tract and into the bladder as a result of the Urinary opening close to the anus. While the bacteria gets into the Urethra, sexual activity increases the spread of the bacteria around the perineum. Also, poor hygiene and incontinence contribute to the contraction of Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs). In hospitals, the use of urinary catheters is responsible for Catheter-associated Urinary tract infection which is more difficult to treat compared to other types of urinary tract infection.
Patients with Urinary tract infections will present with Dysuria (Pain, stinging, or burning when passing out Urine), haematuria, incontinence, confusion, and foul urine. According to research published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, dietary habits are an important factor for UTI recurrence in fertile women. With Urine Dipstick Testing Gram-negative bacteria break down nitrate to nitrite can be found in Urine. Checking for a significant rise of Leukocytes in Urine by confirming Leukocyte Esterase. Red blood cells can be checked to also find traces of blood during a microscopic test (microscopic haematuria). If there is a presence of Nitrite alone is present, it can be treated as Urinary Tract Infection, also if Nitrite is found in Leukocytes, it can be regarded as a urinary tract but when only an increased leukocyte is found in the urine cannot be regarded as UTI unless further tests are done to confirm it. Most UTIs respond to antibiotics but according to a study published on PubMed Ciprofloxacin which is used to treat E.Coli responsible for UTI has seen an increase of over 39.8% resistance rate.
Urinary Tract Infection is more common in pregnant women as a result of an increase in the Uterus of the woman during pregnancy as a result of the baby increasing. The Uterus pushes on the bladder making it difficult for all the urine to be removed when excreted. The urine remains after excretion and serves as a good medium for bacteria to thrive. Also during pregnancy, the glomeruli filtration rate increases causing an increase in glucose which is a good medium for bacteria in the bladder to grow. With pregnant women, during the end of pregnancy, there is an immune suppression which would cause the mother to be predisposed to lots of infections including UTIs. Pregnant women with asymptomatic bacteria in their Urinary tract usually end up with Pyelonephritis and that is why it is important to treat them for the bacteria they have. Pyelonephritis in pregnant women can lead to sepsis, kidney dysfunction, premature labor, and death of the fetus.
Possibly you must have seen newspapers like this or blogs talking about UTI and using cranberries, and the next thing you think off when you realize that you have painful urination is to get a bottle of cranberry juice because it makes the urine acidic or something like that, well the truth remains that Cranberries do not do such thing. While Cranberry would make urine acidic, it doesn't stay for long, and the amount of cranberry juice that would be needed to make it acidic for long would be excessive. Also research showed that antioxidant proanthocyanidin prevented E.coli from adhering to the walls of the Urethra and the bladder but then another research shows that cranberry does not out-perform other antibiotics but then it shows placebo effect since people expect it to work.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4457377/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12600849/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537047/
https://www.webmd.com/women/guide/pregnancy-urinary-tract-infection
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3684265/