Are urinary tract infections common?
Asymptomatic bacteriuria affects about:
- 1-5% healthy premenopausal women,
- 4-19% healthy women and men in older age,
- 0.7-27% diabetics,
- 2-10% pregnant women.
About one-half of women suffer from cystitis at least once in their lives. Moreover, one in three women under the age of 25 suffers from this condition.
What are the risk factors?
These can be both medical history of urinary tract infections in the family and sexual contacts.
What are the symptoms of these infections and what is the difference between men and women?
Some of the main symptoms for both sexes are:
- pain during micturition,
- frequent urge to urinate,
- pain in the bladder,
- blood in the urine (depending on the pathogen)
In men, acute prostatitis with a significant increase in body temperature and fever can also be observed.
When should we book an appointment to consult a specialist when multiple over-the-counter treatments are available?
When these infections occur more than twice within a year, consultation with a specialist is of great importance. For women with diabetes mellitus, obesity or undergoing immunosuppressive therapy, it is best to consult a doctor every time there is an infection. In order to identify the pathogens and apply the correct treatment it is necessary to have the urine examined.
When is antibiotic treatment necessary?
Antibiotics are used when other methods do not bring a result.
Some people use teas and baking soda as well as many other herbal remedies to treat urinary tract infections. What do you think about this?
It is important to follow the guidelines of the European Society of Urology, despite the availability of a multitude of products that promise to help the patient fight off infection. Nevertheless, it is accepted that cranberry therapy and prophylaxis with D-mannose are appropriate. However, the mechanism of action of the therapy is not clear.
What causes urinary tract infections to reoccur after they are cured?
The follow-up urologist is the specialist who can identify the relevant cause of the recurrence of urinary tract infection. Common risk factors are:
- History of urinary tract infection before menopause,
- Urinary incontinence,
- Atrophic vaginitis (as a result of estrogen deficiency),
- Residual urine after micturition,
- New sexual partner,
- The use of spermicidal substances.
