Urinary Tract Infection

Urinary Tract Infection Dr. Travis: Urinary tract infections are the least the second most common infection in the body. If treated with antibiotics usually, reduce to a few days of discomfort but what happens if you put off treatment? Well, joining us by phone to tell us about a patient who did exactly that is Dr. Holly Phillips. She’s a medical reporter for WCBS in New York, also a medical contributor to the Early Show on CBS. Welcome back, Dr. Phillips. Dr. Phillips: Thank you. Hello, everyone. So, I had this very young woman. She was only 30 years old and for five days, she had urinary frequencies. Sometimes, she had to urinate almost every 10 minutes. She also had urgencies but after five days of this, she developed a severe pain in her right, lower back. So, when she came into my office, she was literally screaming in anguish. So, ultimately, what happened, what was a simple urinary tract infection had moved in her kidneys and caused what we call a pyelonephritis. That’s an infection of the kidneys that causes severe pain and swelling and she even had the beginnings of sepsis which is an infection in the blood. So, something that could’ve been treated so simply with just a few days of antibiotics, developed into something that was life-threatening and I had to send her to the ICU. Dr. Travis: Well, urosepsis, a sepsis that starts in the urinary tract is such a common cause of debilitation and it shouldn’t happen in otherwise young, healthy people unless you ignore it. Dr. Jim: Right. I mean, there’s lot of infections that you can get over, colds and urine infections but urinary tract infections are one of the ones you don’t. You have to get it treated Dr. Travis: And it’s especially in common in women. Dr. Jim: Women and kids, too. Kids get them a lot, too. Dr. Lisa: Well, actually, that’s one reason why we check pregnant women’s urine every single time they come to an appointment because it can actually cause pre-term labor and, again, they’re going to get much sicker from a pyelonephritis or a kidney infection. It can actually be, you know, cause them to die. So, we check their urine at every single visit for this because it may not have symptoms in certain cases. Dr. Jim: Yes, that’s a good point. You know, sometimes you get those symptoms in kids that might just be a fever. Dr. Lisa: Right. Dr. Travis: So, Jim, good ways to prevent UTI in the first place? Dr. Jim: Well, in kids, especially during potty training, make sure they know how to wipe correctly. Front to back. Good hygiene. Dr. Travis: And in women? Dr. Lisa: You definitely still want to wipe front to back. Dr. Jim: Keep up the good habits, yes. Dr. Lisa: But also, cranberry juice. It’s a good prevention, if you developed them a lot or if you have sex and you get a lot of bladder infections after you have sex, then you want to make sure that you urinate right afterwards. Talk to your doctor about it. So, those are good retractors. Dr. Jim: Hydration, make sure you drink plenty of water and don’t ignore your symptoms. Dr. Travis: Urinary tract infections are very, very common especially in women and in almost all cases, if treated early, no big deal, right? Dr. Phillips: Yes, exactly, Travis. We can usually treat it. Had this patient come in when she first started having symptoms, she could have been treated with 3 to 5 days of antibiotics very, very easily. She just put it off and it developed into something much, much worse but she said she won’t do that again. Dr. Travis: I’m sure not. Well Holly, thanks for teaching us about why we can’t always wait and put things off when it comes to our health. Thanks for joining us. Dr. Phillips: Anytime. Thank you.