Urinary Tract Infections

Lifestyle changes help prevent urinary tract infections

Urinary tract infections, or UTIs, affect both women and men and are the second-most common type of infection. Bacteria entering the urethra is the most common cause. Normally, bacteria in the urinary tract are quickly flushed out, but sometimes they overcome the body’s defenses and cause infection. UTIs are painful, especially if you are traveling with an untreated infection.

A UTI can happen anywhere in the urinary system, which includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra. A bladder infection is called cystitis. Polynephritis is an infection of one or both kidneys. An infection of the tube that empties urine from the bladder to the outside is called urethritis. Prostatitis is an infection of the prostate gland in men.

Women tend to contract more UTIs because their urethra is shorter and closer to the anus than in men; they are more likely to get an infection after sexual activity or when using a diaphragm or spermicide for birth control. Menopause increases the risk of a UTI due to a decrease in estrogen.

Certain conditions increase the risk of UTIs: diabetes, advanced age, adults with Alzheimer’s disease or delirium, and individuals with problems emptying their bladder completely. Other risks include having a urinary catheter, bowel incontinence, an enlarged prostate, a narrowed urethra or anything that blocks the flow of urine, such as kidney stones. Remaining immobile for a long period of time, pregnancy and surgery or procedures involving the urinary tract also place you at risk.

Contact your health care provider if you experience pain or burning when you urinate, fever, tiredness or shakiness, an urge to urinate often, pressure in your lower belly, urine that smells bad or looks cloudy or reddish, nausea or back pain. Your doctor will examine you to determine whether you have a mild bladder or kidney infection or a more serious infection.

Most of the time, your doctor or nurse can diagnose an infection by analyzing a urine sample for white blood cells, red blood cells and bacteria. A urine culture can then identify the bacteria so that the correct antibiotic is ordered. Blood work can also look for infection. Your doctor will want to know whether you could be pregnant.

Antibiotics taken by mouth are usually recommended because there is a risk that the infection can spread to the kidneys. For a simple bladder infection, you will take antibiotics for three to seven days (women) or seven to 14 days (men). The urine culture may require a change in the antibiotic to one that the bacteria are not resistant to.

Finish all of the antibiotics, even if you feel better. Otherwise, the infection could return and be harder to treat. Commonly used antibiotics include Bactrim, Amoxicillin, Nitofurantoin, Ampicillin, Cipro and Levaquin. A medication such as Pyridium can relieve the burning and urgency. Contact your provider after completing the antibiotics to make sure the infection is gone. If it does not improve or you have problems with your treatment, call your provider.

If you have a UTI, drink plenty of fluids to keep the urine clear or pale yellow. Avoid caffeine, tea, carbonated beverages and alcohol; they tend to irritate the bladder. Only take over-the-counter pain medicines as directed by your provider. Some women have recurrent bladder infections. Your doctor may suggest consulting a urologist to rule out problems with your urinary tract system that may lead to recurrent UTIs or make a UTI harder to treat. If you are prone to recurrent UTIs and you are about to travel, talk to your doctor about having an antibiotic with you in case you develop symptoms.

Possible UTI complications include sepsis, a life-threatening blood infection. This risk is greater among the young, the very old and those whose bodies cannot fight infections or who have kidney damage or scarring or kidney infection.

Treatment for a UTI is directed at the underlying cause when possible. If no source of infection is found, lifestyle modifications, plus vaginal estrogen replacement for some women, are all you may need. Cranberry juice or cranberry tablets may prevent UTIs, though the research is not definitive.

A urinary tract infection is uncomfortable, but treatment is usually successful. Symptoms of a bladder infection usually disappear within 24 to 48 hours after treatment begins. For kidney infections, it may take a week or more. Sometimes a procedure or surgery is needed to repair blockage of the flow of urine. If you have repeated UTIs, you may need a low-dose antibiotic for several months.

Reduce Your Risk

• Drink plenty of water (two to four quarts daily).
• Urinate frequently. Avoid holding urine for long periods.
• Wipe from front to back after urination or a bowel movement.
• Use toilet tissue only once.
• Take showers rather than baths; avoid bath oils.
• Gently wash the skin around your vagina and anus daily with mild soap and water.
• Empty your bladder before and after intercourse.
• Clean your genital and anal areas before and after intercourse.
• Use condoms to help prevent UTIs caused by sexually transmitted bacteria.
• Women should use sanitary pads instead of tampons; change them with each bathroom use.
• Do not douche or use deodorant sprays or scented feminine products in the genital area.
• Avoid tight-fitting pants.
• Wear cotton underwear and pantyhose and change both at least once a day.

The content of this article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Read More

Risk on the Road

Dehydration and heat stroke are cause for concern amongst frequent travelers

The dangers presented by hot weather are often overlooked, but last summer, an unusually long and extreme heat wave throughout Europe resulted in thousands of deaths. Travelers need to be aware of the risk of heat-related emergencies. Dehydration in particular is a common travel hazard.

Dehydration occurs when the body loses the water and essential body salts (electrolytes) needed to maintain normal function. Side effects include lack of energy, muscle cramps and back pain. If left untreated, dehydration can lead to exhaustion and heat stroke, which can be fatal.

Most Americans do not drink enough water, and many of us are mildly dehydrated without even knowing it. While the main causes of dehydration include overexposure to the sun and high temperatures, dehydration also strikes people who fly long distances because the air in pressurized airplane cabins is actually drier than the air at most of the world’s deserts. On long-distance flights at high altitudes, the humidity can fall well below 10 percent. Symptoms of in-flight dehydration include thirst, scratchy and/or reddened eyes, dry, itchy skin, constipation and nosebleeds.

---

There’s no way to avoid some degree of dehydration during long flights, but you can minimize the problem by taking the following steps:

1. Drink plenty of water prior to departure. 
2. Carry your own bottle of water to drink throughout the flight. 
3. Try to drink a glass of water every hour that you are in the air. 
4. Do not drink coffee or alcohol, which deplete body fluids. 
5. Use a water spritzer to spray your face periodically. 
6. Continue to drink plenty of water after landing.

Heat emergencies fall into three categories of increasing severity: heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Left untreated, heat cramps (caused by loss of salt from heavy sweating) can lead to heat exhaustion (caused by dehydration), which can progress to heat stroke. Heat stroke can cause shock, brain damage, organ failure and death. Common causes of heat-related emergencies include high temperature and humidity, dehydration, prolonged or excessive exercise, excess clothing, alcohol use and certain medications, such as diuretics. Travelers with cardiovascular disease and sweat gland dysfunction can also be prone to heat emergencies.

Early symptoms of heat-related illness include profuse sweating, fatigue, thirst and muscle cramps. As the condition progresses toward heat exhaustion, symptoms include headache, dizziness, weakness and lightheadedness, nausea and vomiting, cool dark skin and dark urine. When heat stroke occurs, symptoms include fever, with a body temperature above 104 degrees, irrational behavior, extreme confusion, dry and hot red skin, rapid shallow breathing and rapid pulse leading to seizures and unconsciousness.

These symptoms warrant immediate medical attention. While waiting for medical personnel to arrive, cool the victim rapidly with whatever is close at hand, be it shade, cold water from a hose, a fan, ice cubes or air conditioning. You should also give fluids to a conscious victim, and turn a vomiting victim on his or her side to avoid aspiration.

---

Tips for preventing heat-related illness, some of which were covered under dehydration, include:

1. Drink plenty of fluids. 
2. Avoid alcoholic and caffeinated beverages.
3. Remain in an air-conditioned environment.
4. Wear lightweight, light-colored, loose-fitting clothing.
5. Limit outdoor activity to morning and evening hours.
6. Limit exercise and/or drink sports beverages to replace salt and minerals lost by sweating.
7. Wear a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses and sunscreen with an spf of 15 or higher.

Read More

Sugar: The “Poisonous” Sweet?

 

Readers of National Geographic who are accustomed to reading about exotic animals and locations may be disappointed when they pick up their August addition. Rather than lions and tigers or Mount Everest being featured on the cover, the top story for this new addition will profile a humdrum foodstuff: Sugar.

While some may find the article’s 1,400 word history of sugar a dazzling read, the key notes are devoted to convincing people that a perfectly safe food ingredient is the modern-day plague. Robert Lustig makes an appearance to shill for his dubious theories, which gives an idea where the piece is going.

According to one Richard Johnson it’s not even your fault that you decided to lay on the couch and watch television all day. No, it’s the sugar that kept you watching Animal Planet instead of hiking the wilderness:

[Americans] eat too much and exercise too little because they’re addicted to sugar, which not only makes them fatter but, after the initial sugar rush, also saps their energy, beaching them on the couch. ‘The reason you’re watching TV is not because TV is so good . . . but because you have no energy to exercise, because you’re eating too much sugar.’

In Lustig’s and Johnson’s view, sugar controls your mind at every twist. It’s an appealing view for the food cops, since it denies personal responsibility and empowers trial lawyers, but it lacks scientific validity. Researchers from Cambridge University investigated this notion of “food addiction” and determined that “criteria for substance dependence translate poorly to food-related behaviors.”

You would think a publication like National Geographic would use the concern about obesity as an opportunity to get everyone more interested in exploring the great outdoors. But as we see on an all-too-frequent basis nowadays, it’s just another Food Police hit piece on Americans’ favorite sweets.

Read More