UTI Relief in 15 minutes

utireliefspiralI created this site because I really want to educate people about urinary tract infections, cystitis, bladder infections and even some on kidney infections.  I was so frustrated and disgusted with the lack of help and support I got from my Doctor, that I got determined to be an absolute expert.  The effect of all the anitbiotics I was on was just too much.  My entire immune system was in  ruins.  I had to do something.  This site contains most of what I learned.

Natural UTI Remedies

redbacteriaCystitis or Urinary Tract Infections are painful and sometimes incapacitating infections and we're committed to providing you with the information you need to help treat and prevent these infections.  Did you know that most infections are caused by the E. Coli bacteria?  Learn about that and more by clicking through this site and educating yourself.  You know what they say.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Well, we have a pound of prevention, so just imagine what that's worth!

Causes of UTI

I hope you're not currently suffering from a UTI or Urinary Tract Infection.  If you are, please, please, please, check out the ebook I wrote.  I used to suffer from UTI's all the time.  Basically I was getting one about once a month.  It was awful and eventually got so bad I just had to do something about it.  I did finaly get a handle on things and I wrote a book to help you get a grip on your UTI's too!

So anyway, this short article is mostly about what causes a uti.  If you've done any googling acround, you probably know that the most common cause is the E.coli bacteria.  Most people here E.Coli and think that's a bacteria that you're not supposed to have in your body.  You hear that and you think about news stories you've heard or read about that were E.Coli related sickness.  Well the truth is that E.Coli is a very important part of a healthy intentinal flora.  Your digestive tract is full of all sorts of helpful bacteria that assist in the digestive process.  In fact there's a lot of research out there that suggest that the "gut" or digestive tract, intentinal flora or whatever you want to call it, is one of the most important components of the human innume system.

Ok, but this is about UTI's not about the intestinal flora.  My point however, is that you do have E.Coli in your digestive tract.  Specifically in the "lower" parts of the tract.  You don't have to be a Doctor or have any detailed knowledge of human anatomy to figure out that the distance from the vaginal opening and the rectum.  For women, it's not that far at all.  In men, of course the distance between the uretheral opening and the rectum is a substantially longer distance.  That's one of the reasons that men get UTI's so much less frequently than women.  As you probably already know, a UTI is caused when bacteria, most commonly the E.Coli bacteria, colonize somewhere in the urinary tract.  Depending on where the colonization is, the infection may have different names, but ultimately, it's all caused my the same thing.

So there you have it, the most common cause of a UTI is colonization of the E.Coli bacteria somewhere along the urinary tract.  Click around this site to see articles that discuss the symptoms of a UTI as well as some treatment options and of course, how to prevent a UTI.

Pathogenesis

The most common organism implicated in UTIs (80–85%) is E. Coli,[4] while Staphylococcus saprophyticus is the cause in 5–10%.[4]

The bladder wall, in common with most epithelia is coated with a varitety of cationic antimicrobial peptides such as the defensins and cathelicidin which disrupt the integrity of bacterial cell walls.[12] In addition, there are also mannosylated proteins present, such as Tamm-Horsfall proteins (THP), which interfere with the binding of bacteria to the uroepithelium. As binding is an important factor in establishing pathogenicity for these organisms, its disruption results in reduced capacity for invasion of the tissues.[clarification needed] Moreover, the unbound bacteria are more easily removed when voiding. The use of urinary catheters (or other physical trauma) may physically disturb this protective lining, thereby allowing bacteria to invade the exposed epithelium.

During cystitis, uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) subvert innate defenses by invading superficial umbrella cells and rapidly increasing in numbers to form intracellular bacterial communities (IBCs).[13] By working together, bacteria in biofilms build themselves into structures that are more firmly anchored in infected cells and are more resistant to immune-system assaults and antibiotic treatments.[14] This is often the cause of chronic urinary tract infections.

What Causes A UTI

Nearly 80% of all UTI’s are caused by Escherichia Coli (E. Coli) bacteria strains commonly found in the colon. However that’s not the only bacteria that can cause a urinary tract infection. Bacteria such as Klebsiella, Mycoplasma, Chlamydia, staphylococcus. Even though these other bacteria can cause a UTI, they are significantly less frequent than E. Coli.
 
There are even some fungi that can cause a UTI. Candida and Cryptococcus are a couple fungi that have been known to cause a UTI. As if the bacteria and fungi weren’t enough, occasionally a UTI can be caused by a parasite such as Trichomonas or Schistosoma. Schistosoma causes other problems such as bladder infection as part of a complicated infection. However, in the US, most infections are caused by gram-negative bacteria, mostly with E. Coli as the culprit.

What is a Urinary Tract Infection

In order to understand a UTI, the first thing to do is understand the urinary tract. The primary purpose of the urinary tract is to rid the body of urine. It’s the roadway for urine to exit the body. From the “inside to outside” he urinary tract is made up of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. A UTI is an infection (in most cases E. Coli) in any part of the urinary tract.

In most cases however, this is a broad definition of urinary tract infections; many authors prefer to use more specific terms that localize the urinary tract infection to the major segment involved such as urethritis (when the urethra is infected), cystitis (also known as a bladder infection), ureter infection (for some reason, this is very uncommon), and pyelonephritis (kidney infection - a serious condition to be taken seriously).
 
Other structures that eventually connect to or share close anatomic proximity to the urinary tract (for example, prostate, epididymis, and vagina) are sometimes included in the discussion of UTIs because they may either cause or be caused by UTIs. Technically, they are not UTIs and will be only briefly mentioned in this article.

UTIs are much more common in women than men. Each year about 8.3 million people visit their doctor to treat a UTI. Occassionally a UT will go un-noticed but normally a UTIs can cause problems that range from pain and/or burning when urinating (dysuria) to organ damage and even death. Your kidneys on average produce about 1.5 quarts of urine each day. They help to maintain the proper balance of potassium, sodium, water and other electrolytes as well as the resoval of waste products (urine). Additionally the kidneys produce a hormone that aids in the formation of red blood cells. These critical body functions are why it’s so important to maintain proper urinary tract health.

Some researchers believe UTIs are not transmitted from person to person, other people dispute this and suggest UTIs may be contagious and recommend sex partners avoid intercourse until the UTI has cleared. However there is little or dispute that UTIs caused by sexually transmitted disease(STD) organisms; these infections (such as gonorrhea, chlamydia) are easily transmitted between sex partners and are very contagious.