December 12, 2012 • 27 mins
How do urinary tract infections happen? Why are cranberries the magical fruit cure for UTIs? Join Cristen and Caroline as they take a closer look at urinary tract infections, from what they are to how they work -- and why men can get UTIs, too.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to stuff Mom Never told you. From how Stuff
Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm
Kristen and I'm Caroline. And Caroline we're talking about urinary
tract infections. I'm very excited. Yeah. Well, it's one of
those kind of kind of a one oh one topics
(00:26):
that I feel like we need to touch on. We've
talked about a long time ago about yeast infections, like
unpleasant things like that that happened, but we don't you know,
you don't really it's not we want to educate the people. Yeah,
I mean, it's not one of those things where you
and I are like, you know, what's gonna get our
audience jammed? You're r a nary attract infections. And for
(00:50):
some reason, right before we came into the studio and
I was looking over, uh my ut I notes and
now I have something like ut I notes. That's weird.
H Do you ever watched Parks and Recreation only every
once in a while? Okay, well, I was thinking for
some reason when uh, whenever I would like I was
looking at urinary tract infection. I was just envisioning the
(01:12):
Parks and Red character John Raphael like coming in and
saying you have an eary tract infection, you know, like
kind of jazzy. And now whenever I'm looking at it
on my notes, it's that I'm sorry, I'm giving you
a blank stare. Well, I think I've only seen one episode. Well,
it's okay. I'm just trying to try to jazz up
(01:33):
urinary tract infections. That's right. Perhaps it should be the
jazz old Yes, jazz. The jazz line probably could increase
your chances of a U T I. But what is
the U T I? Caroline, I'll tell you, Kristen, a
U T I. All right, I'll drop the announcer voice.
It's actually a really unpleasant infection and it can be
(01:56):
in any part of your urinary system, your kidneys, readers,
your your readers. I guess I should say those are
actually tubes leading from the kidneys. Do the bladder and
the part that has the most infections, the bladder and
the urethra. That's the lower part of your urinary tract. Now,
if we want to get clinical about things, Caroline, the
(02:19):
terms associated with u tis because they're u tis an
umbrella term for bacterioria. That one came out. It almost
sounds pretty bacterioria. Oh is that a bacterioria? Why, yes,
it is. And that's the presence of bacteria in the urine.
Or is the stitus a a bladder infection? Or pylonaphritis
(02:41):
a kidney infection? And uh, what I did not know
is also the high cost of uties these rather commonplace infections.
They cost the healthcare system two billion dollars a year
because of these because of these infections. UM, so going
in too. Yeah, let's let's get underneath the umbrella. Let's
(03:02):
tell up underneath the umbrella. The umbrella. Here it is,
and on one side we we have a bladder infection. Right,
They're very common, they aren't serious. And the most common
cause of a bladder infection is e coal I A
k A. The number one thing that freaks me out
about water parks. Oh yeah, we'll not go to water parks,
(03:24):
will not? Liz Lemon and I have this in common
um symptoms. I remember. I will actually never forget my
first U T. I. Yeah, I will not forget being
in the college dorm bathroom like hands on either side
of the stall because it felt like razor blades were
coming out of me. And that's going to lead us
into our symptoms, painful urination, burning sensation during urination, cloudy blood,
(03:50):
tinged or strong smelling urine, abdominal pain, fever, pelvic pain
in women, and rectal pain in men, and we will
get into uh some male aided U t I stuff
in a little bit. But Kristen, you had told me
something I didn't know earlier, which was the reason for
the burning sensation when you yearinate. Yeah, a fun fact
about burning p and now everyone can take to their
(04:12):
next uh social mixer. It's because the P is making
itself more acidic in an attempt to bulldoze bacteria good
for your Yeah, so that burning sensation actually is the
body trying to do you a solid, but it's probably
not gonna work, and you probably they can't clear up
(04:33):
on their own bladder infections. But a lot of times
you're gonna want to go to your healthcare provider because
antibiotics will are the only real cure. Right. Yeah, I took.
I think I just drank a lot of I didn't
want anyone really to know except the girls that I
lived next to in the dorm, So I think I
just drank a lot of cranberry juice. And my friend
down the hall had like actual cranberry supplement pills. Yeah.
(04:56):
I just cranburied it up freshman year. Wait that sounds terrible.
Just never mind. Also under the U t I umbrella
is the urre threat infection. Urethratis occurs when g I
bacteria spreads from the anus to the ure threat And
because women's urethra is close to the vagina, s T
(05:20):
I such as herpes, GNAHA and chlamydia can also cause urethritis. Yeah,
things can get ugly. Uh. And then moving on to
the kidney infection, which is often the result of an
untreated bladder infection. And I know we told you that
bladder infections are very common, usually not serious, and you
can either take antibiotics or you know, if you're very lucky,
they can just clear up on their own like magic
(05:41):
fairy dust. Kidney infections are really serious. Uh. They require
prompt medical attention and can permanently damage your kidneys if
the bacteria spread to your blood stream. Yeah. I am
going to Carolinson to you, we're so honest about your
urinary tract infection that you got while you were cram
(06:02):
bearing it up in college. I'm going to cop to
having gotten a kidney infection because I got a bladder
infection and did not take care of it soon enough.
I had no idea what was going on but that
series of symptoms, and I was also on top of it.
I was traveling at the time. Uh. And those symptoms
of back pain, fever of higher than hundred and two, chills, nausea.
(06:27):
It is no joke. I did not know what was
wrong with me, and it was because I I didn't.
I didn't get my bladder infection treated enough and just
started just chugging cranberry juice all the time and thought, Hey,
I've got a strong body, it'll be fine. Nope, should
have gone to the doctor sooner. Um, and actually ended
up in the e R. Did you really, Yeah, because
(06:47):
as soon as they find out that you've got a
kidney infection and I had had it for a while
because I had been traveling, um, and was like, I've
had a fever of a hundred and two for seven days.
Uh yeah. So they sent me straight to the ear
and that is how I spent one labor day. But
I was fine after that. I just needed Did they
just put you on antibiotics? They they put me on Yeah, well,
(07:10):
I had been on antibiotics. They put me on I
think another round of stronger antibiotics and also hooked me
up to the special I V drip of magic. Wow. Yeah.
So not to be totally t m eying out all
of our listeners don't know. I mean, I'm sure as
common as as U t I s are. I mean,
(07:31):
I'm sure other people out there nodding their heads. Yeah,
it's just to me. It was a case study, unfortunately
on myself, of call your doctor. Yeah seriously. And then
finally the last little friend of ours under the U
t I umbrella, which we don't have to go into
detail on because, as I mentioned, we've got another podcast
episode on this our yeast infections. Basically, these east infections
(07:56):
get out of control when there is an imbalance of
the east and it multiplies quickly, and this develops inside
the vagina and around the vaginal opening. And if you've
ever had one, it is also a miserable, miserable experience.
But one thing to keep in mind that I want
to reiterate throughout this podcast because it is not the
most pleasant topic dealing with U t I s. But
(08:19):
like you mentioned, when you were in college, not wanting
to let other people know that you had a U
t I because I feel like since it happens in
and around Genitalia, where really we get really squeamish about
it because it means something you know, might be wrong
or dirty with what's going on there. But no, it's
simply a matter of the proximity of bacteria with anatomy,
(08:41):
and it's bacteria that we all have. Our bodies are
just sesspools of bacteria right well. And it's also not
just I mean, if you're worried about anatomy, I mean
it's not just that women who use broad spectrum antibiotics
or cortica steroids there I got it out are also
at risk for yeast infections. Yeah, and um, whenever we
(09:02):
hear about U t I s a lot of times
that conversation is focused around women because we are more
prone to get them because the female urethra is shorter,
which allows bacteria two more quickly access the bladder, and
a woman's urethral opening is also near sources of bacteria
from the anus and the vagina. I really hope no
(09:25):
one is listening to this podcast also on their lunch break.
Maybe they're on a liquid lunch. I mean, so they're
having some granberry juice. But there are ways that our
urinary systems can protect us against urinary tract infections. We
actually have sort of like guardian bacteria. Yeah, they're they're
in the red suits with the big black hats on.
(09:46):
You know, they can't leave their post. Uh. These are
normally present around a woman's external genital area that guard
the urethral opening, discouraging replication and movement of unwanted bacteria.
But obviously sometimes things go. Sometimes they leave their post. Yes,
sometimes they do leave it. Well, sometimes they are invaded. Yeah,
(10:06):
that's true, and they're like, ah, we got the hats on.
Let's see how long we can continue this metaphor of
our vaginas as Buckingham Palace. Because I'm really enjoyed. That's
what I call my vagina um. The lifetime risk, so
of having a U t I for women is greater
than for men, though men you are not immune to
(10:26):
U t I s either. Yes, your genital anatomy is
a little offers a little more protection. Maybe you have
a few more a few more soldier standing sentinel. And
also your your wreath threat the length of your wreath
from your bladder is longer, but nevertheless, the lifetime risk
for men I believe is twent so it's still happening. Yeah,
(10:48):
And and people do worry about pregnancy, like, oh gosh,
what can go wrong during my pregnancy. Pregnant women are
actually no more likely than non pregnant women to get
a urinary tract infection, but when one to develops, it's
even more likely to travel to the kidneys, and so
pregnant women who get any sort of Obviously, pregnant women
who get any sort of infection need to go to
(11:08):
their doctors, but they definitely need to be aware of
what is happening. And so scientists think that hormonal changes
and shifts in the position of the urinary tract during
pregnancy can make it easier for the bacteria to travel
up to the kidneys and cause infection. Yeah, and there
are other kinds of risk factors, such as spinal cord injuries,
(11:29):
nerve damage around the bladder that might make it hard
for someone to empty their bladder completely and that could
allow bacteria to that grows in the urine to stay
in the bladder. Diabetes, certain types of birth control spermicides
that can irritate the skin, increasing the risk of bacteria growth,
diaphragms that can slow urinary flow, certain kinds of condom
(11:50):
risk that could cause trauma to the vagina during sexual
activity because of friction. Um. Yeah, so there's just a risk.
There are a lot of risk factors. But yeah, speaking
of sexual activity and birth control, sex can move those
microbes from the bowel of regina to the urethral opening,
like we talked about earlier, and it's hard for the
(12:13):
body to remove them quickly enough if they have the
characteristics that allow them to live in the urinary tract
for a longer period. Yeah, I feel like U T
I s are very commonly associated with sex, and one
reason is because and I don't know the doctors are
entirely sure why, but there is sometimes a correlation between
new sex partners and contracting U T e s, which
(12:35):
is why doctors will recommend that women urinate before and
after intercourse. Not because it does anything to ward off pregnancy.
There you can't you can't be out sperm, okay, but
it can flush out bacteria that might have um gotten
(12:57):
into the urethra during sexual activity, and it's just to
flush out that system. But again it is in no
way a form of birth control. Correct. Um, So, now
we've told you about u t s and all these
infections and things, well like once you're done, you're done, right, No,
absolutely not? Uh So about of young women with the
(13:18):
first U t I end up getting another infection, and
each U t I increases the risk of having another one.
And it turns out that you know a few women
actually have U t I s experience U t I
s throughout their lives. Typically a woman will have a
period of one or two years with frequent infections, after
which the recurrent infections taper off. But I did go
(13:41):
on to go ask Alice over at Columbia University's website,
and there was a question from a female student asking
about recurrent U t I. She was essentially like having
U t I symptoms almost once a month and it
was understandably driving her crazy. Uh And the go ask
(14:02):
Alice recommended that if you are in fact having UTI
symptoms on the regular, there could possibly be other things
at work if they're only doing if you go to
the doctor and they're just doing listening to your symptoms
and saying, oh, it's a U t I or only
testing for bacteria, you might actually need a pelvic exam
(14:22):
because there could be other things that work, like a
vaginal infection, irritation to spermocide, and condoms. As we mentioned earlier,
it compressed your wrethra during intercourse, also damaged to mucosa,
which are those good bladder bacteria that normally keep the
bad stuff out. So, in other words, if this is
happening a bunch of times, you might want to instead
(14:43):
of just going to the doctor, getting a prescription filled,
chugging a lot of cranberry, and then it happening all
over again, you might want to have a more comprehensive
exam just to make sure that it's not something else
that's causing those symptoms. Right, And similarly, for men, once
a man has a U t I, he's likely to
have another one because bacteria can hide deep in the
(15:03):
prostate tissue, so they are sneaky now. And speaking of men,
though the rates of U t I are the inverse
of women's over the life term. They are much lower
in young men, but then they rise dramatically in older men.
Do you think it's because that bacteria maybe can hide
out there hiding out well, it does have a lot
(15:24):
to do, I think with urinary stasis, because we mentioned
earlier one of the risk factors was conditions that cause
the urine to just like hang out in your bladder
and collect more bacteria. So that's why doctors always say,
you know, go to the bathroom. Go to the bathroom,
don't sit around and wait and cross your legs. Go
when you have to go, because there are conditions um
bladder outlet obstruction for instance due to benign prostatic hyperplesia,
(15:49):
which are associated with urinary stasis. So conditions that prevent
you from urinating all the way urinate, getting all of
it out, or just when you're not going enough. So
the moral of the story is, let's just pe if
you got to go, go, Yeah. If you have any
sort of obstructions like prostate issues, definitely get that taken
(16:09):
care of because that can lead to bladder and kidney infections.
And yeah, like you said this earlier about of UTIs
occurring men, and they looked at UH between nine and
nineteen ninety four, the lifetime prevalence of U t I
s and adult men was estimated to be a nearly
fourteen percent. And during this time span, just to give
(16:30):
you an idea. The rate for women was fifty, so
still a lot more, a lot more ladies. But guys,
it can still affect you. And you know obviously you
know if you have a female partner that can that
can affect you as well in other ways. UM, so
we've we've given all the bad news about what happens.
(16:51):
Now for some good news about preventing U T I
s uh. In addition to urinate, urinate, urinate, yes, yes,
make sure you just go to the bathroom, just just
live in the bathroom. Can you move your desk at
work into the bathroom. Well, sometimes I feel like I
should move my desk into the bathroom because I do
try to stay very hydrated, which is one I mean
(17:13):
just for overall health, but that is one thing that
doctors recommend to also help you with your urinary track
to keep that in check, which means that some days
I am running back and forth in your bedroom all day.
And one thing that you should be hydrating with if
you're going through this, and we've already talked about this
is cranberry juice. And the theory, one of the theories
(17:33):
is that the vitamin C in cranberry just may combat
U t I s, but they're also chemicals in cranberry
products that help prevent E. Coli from spreading. Kristen, do
you want to pronounce THEE? Yeah, I'm going to give
this a shot. This was um. There's actually been a
lot of research looking into these chemical properties of cranberries
(17:55):
to figure out why it helps with our urinary tract
because fun fact as well, this is coming from the
study that was published in the two thousand nine Journal
of Medicinal Food. Apparently cranberries are one of only three
fruits native to North America, which seems incredibly low. I
did not, but cranberries nevertheless native to North America and
(18:18):
Native Americans would eat them for similar homeopathic reasons back
in the day as well. So scientists even now are
trying to figure out what it is because it's not
just the citrus. Other citrus juices if you don't like
cranberry juice that can also be helpful for that vitamin
C that you mentioned earlier, caroline um. But they think
(18:40):
that it might be a chemical pronto cyanidins in the
cranberry that are thought to um change the structure of E. Coli.
Because icali has the number one kind of bacteria that
causes all of these infections, particularly bladder infections, and chal
I have these hair like projections on them called fimbria
(19:02):
I that are essentially little bacterial fingers that allow them
to hang on to the urinary tract and you know,
camp out there and then climb up there and then
leave me with a degree favor for seven days. I
know these fimbriai no good, but they think that these
cranberry chemicals cause the h these fimbria to curl up instead,
(19:26):
so they can't hang on, so they just slip right down. Yeah,
just like Charlie and his grandfather, Charlie and the chocolate
factory when he goes up in the tube with the
fan and exactly. I think that's actually a diagram in
that study in the two thousand nine Journal of Medicinal
I don't know why my brain goes to these things now.
I like it um And also in the bedroom, because
(19:48):
again there is the association between sexual activity and U
t I S. Practicing safe sex helps safe sex in
the normal thing we think of of, like you know,
using protection, but also like Krista mentioned earlier, urinating before
and after intercourse. Actually I didn't know that some physicians
will prescribe a single pill of antibiotics to be taken
(20:10):
after intercourse by people who are prone to frequent infections. Yeah,
and um, one thing that might help as well is
using water based lubricants, not oil ones that can break
down latex and condoms, but water based lubricants that can
help minimize friction that might be coming from condoms that
could be irritating the urethroll opening and then increasing the
(20:35):
risk of some bacteria getting into their right. And we
also want to obviously practice good hygiene. Make sure you're
wiping front to back, not back to front, because we
don't want any of those microbes making their way from
the anus to the urethra, so practice good hygiene. But also,
I mean, if you are more concerned about yeast infections
as your particular umbrella section of the u T I,
(20:57):
you know, make sure that you keep the vaginal area
clean and dry and use unscented soaps. But also if
you're going swimming or if you're sweating a lodging exercise,
they want you to change out of those wet or
damp clothes pretty much immediately when you get home. Yes,
and I would like to close out this episode on
urinary tract infections with our number one piece of female
(21:19):
hygiene advice. And that's two words, folks. Let's just drill
it into everyone's brains. Don't douche? Yeah, done with the
douche bag, the douche bag, the douche Yes, and yes,
we are referencing our episode of the same name bag
the douche that's right, that you can listen to right
after you listen to your episode on ust infections exactly.
(21:43):
So that is where urinary tract infections come from. They
come from bacteria that get where they're not supposed to go. Yeah,
you send those bacteria pack in, except for the good ones,
the one's with the hats, the ones hanging out outside
of Buckingham Palace, the Royal guard. So uh that I
(22:05):
hope that this has been a helpful primer and next
time I hope that we will come to you with
a more joyous topic. But you know what U t
i s happened, and they happen to men and women,
so we need to know what to do and how
to stop them. So let us know your thoughts on
all of that. Share your stories if you would like,
and if anyone has any more insight on the science
of cranberry juice. Let us know, mom. Stuff at Discovery
(22:29):
dot com is where you can send your letters. And
before we get to a couple of listener emails that
folks have sent in, we have a quick word from
our sponsor that brought us this episode on urinary tract infections.
And it is Netflix dot com where you can go
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(22:54):
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If if you want something fun to catch up on
(23:14):
during the holidays, we highly recommend going to Netflix dot
com slash mom getting your free three day trial and
watching the seminal nineties TV show My So Called Life. Yes,
Homeland fans, if you haven't seen Claire Danes in My
So Called Life, just do it right now. And it's
Netflix dot com slash mom for that free thirty day
(23:36):
trial and titles our subject to availability, so don't wait around.
Head on over and now back to our letters. Yes,
electronic mail. I have some electronic mail here from another
Christian about our Queen B episode. She says, I have
the opposite problem of Queen B syndrome. I now work
(23:59):
in an office of mostly men and desperately wish we
had female leadership. The guys are the male stereotype, incapable
of multitasking, thoughtless, terrible communicators. She says in parentheses, I
once had to slog through mud and heels and a
skirt because one boss never thought to tell me that
the meeting we were going to involve walking dirt paths
instead of sitting in in carpeted meeting rooms. Well, the
(24:21):
women I've had the fortune to work for a take
on the roles of mentor advisor, teacher, supervisor. They'll tell
you when you should wear something you don't normally wear
to the office, check in to see how you're doing,
take the time to explain the process, rather than get
annoyed that you don't already know it, and then turn
around and rule meetings with an iron fist or knock
out an unruly team member with a velvet globe. It
(24:42):
was inspiring in previous jobs to work for strong, capable
women who were great leaders and examples, and I hope
I can be like them when I grow up. And
I would just like to add a note that I
have worked for both wonderful and terrible male bosses and
wonderful and terrible female bosses. So I just wanted to
(25:02):
throw my two cents in there. It happens. Yeah, I've
got one here. Also on Queen Bees from Aliza, and
she writes just a quick note in reference to your
Queen b episode. Back in the day, I used to
work as an assistant in an executive coaching firm, and
I picked up a few tidbits here and there. In
regard to the gender gap, there is a theory that
men aren't necessarily valued more than women, but that they
(25:24):
tend to be negotiating their starting salary more often than
their female counterparts. If Jane accepts he offered twenty five
tho dollar salary and John negotiates set up to twenty
seven thousand dollars, they may receive the same percentage races,
but over time the gap between their salaries will grow.
I don't know if this is completely true, but it
is a thought that has always stayed with me. And yes, overall, Uh,
(25:47):
that is a very common thing that happens in the workplace.
We've talked about this before, where women don't negotiate hard
enough um or will accept the first offer or the
first job that is laid in front of them, where
as men, because of socialization, because of many many factors,
I'm sure, tend to start off with even slightly higher salaries.
(26:11):
But like she correctly points out, that gap is only
going to grow wider and wider. So I think that
things are starting to change if you look at a
different industries, but nevertheless, negotiate. We gotta speak up get
that money, alright, So if you have any tips about
(26:31):
how we can get that money, let's know your thoughts
at mom Stuff at Discovery dot com, or send us
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And of course you can follow us on Tumbler as well.
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(26:54):
It's how stuff Works dot com for more on this
and thousands of other topics. Does it how staff works
dot com? MHM
Welcome to stuff Mom Never told you. From how Stuff
Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm
Kristen and I'm Caroline. And Caroline we're talking about urinary
tract infections. I'm very excited. Yeah. Well, it's one of
those kind of kind of a one oh one topics
(00:26):
that I feel like we need to touch on. We've
talked about a long time ago about yeast infections, like
unpleasant things like that that happened, but we don't you know,
you don't really it's not we want to educate the people. Yeah,
I mean, it's not one of those things where you
and I are like, you know, what's gonna get our
audience jammed? You're r a nary attract infections. And for
(00:50):
some reason, right before we came into the studio and
I was looking over, uh my ut I notes and
now I have something like ut I notes. That's weird.
H Do you ever watched Parks and Recreation only every
once in a while? Okay, well, I was thinking for
some reason when uh, whenever I would like I was
looking at urinary tract infection. I was just envisioning the
(01:12):
Parks and Red character John Raphael like coming in and
saying you have an eary tract infection, you know, like
kind of jazzy. And now whenever I'm looking at it
on my notes, it's that I'm sorry, I'm giving you
a blank stare. Well, I think I've only seen one episode. Well,
it's okay. I'm just trying to try to jazz up
(01:33):
urinary tract infections. That's right. Perhaps it should be the
jazz old Yes, jazz. The jazz line probably could increase
your chances of a U T I. But what is
the U T I? Caroline, I'll tell you, Kristen, a
U T I. All right, I'll drop the announcer voice.
It's actually a really unpleasant infection and it can be
(01:56):
in any part of your urinary system, your kidneys, readers,
your your readers. I guess I should say those are
actually tubes leading from the kidneys. Do the bladder and
the part that has the most infections, the bladder and
the urethra. That's the lower part of your urinary tract. Now,
if we want to get clinical about things, Caroline, the
(02:19):
terms associated with u tis because they're u tis an
umbrella term for bacterioria. That one came out. It almost
sounds pretty bacterioria. Oh is that a bacterioria? Why, yes,
it is. And that's the presence of bacteria in the urine.
Or is the stitus a a bladder infection? Or pylonaphritis
(02:41):
a kidney infection? And uh, what I did not know
is also the high cost of uties these rather commonplace infections.
They cost the healthcare system two billion dollars a year
because of these because of these infections. UM, so going
in too. Yeah, let's let's get underneath the umbrella. Let's
(03:02):
tell up underneath the umbrella. The umbrella. Here it is,
and on one side we we have a bladder infection. Right,
They're very common, they aren't serious. And the most common
cause of a bladder infection is e coal I A
k A. The number one thing that freaks me out
about water parks. Oh yeah, we'll not go to water parks,
(03:24):
will not? Liz Lemon and I have this in common
um symptoms. I remember. I will actually never forget my
first U T. I. Yeah, I will not forget being
in the college dorm bathroom like hands on either side
of the stall because it felt like razor blades were
coming out of me. And that's going to lead us
into our symptoms, painful urination, burning sensation during urination, cloudy blood,
(03:50):
tinged or strong smelling urine, abdominal pain, fever, pelvic pain
in women, and rectal pain in men, and we will
get into uh some male aided U t I stuff
in a little bit. But Kristen, you had told me
something I didn't know earlier, which was the reason for
the burning sensation when you yearinate. Yeah, a fun fact
about burning p and now everyone can take to their
(04:12):
next uh social mixer. It's because the P is making
itself more acidic in an attempt to bulldoze bacteria good
for your Yeah, so that burning sensation actually is the
body trying to do you a solid, but it's probably
not gonna work, and you probably they can't clear up
(04:33):
on their own bladder infections. But a lot of times
you're gonna want to go to your healthcare provider because
antibiotics will are the only real cure. Right. Yeah, I took.
I think I just drank a lot of I didn't
want anyone really to know except the girls that I
lived next to in the dorm, So I think I
just drank a lot of cranberry juice. And my friend
down the hall had like actual cranberry supplement pills. Yeah.
(04:56):
I just cranburied it up freshman year. Wait that sounds terrible.
Just never mind. Also under the U t I umbrella
is the urre threat infection. Urethratis occurs when g I
bacteria spreads from the anus to the ure threat And
because women's urethra is close to the vagina, s T
(05:20):
I such as herpes, GNAHA and chlamydia can also cause urethritis. Yeah,
things can get ugly. Uh. And then moving on to
the kidney infection, which is often the result of an
untreated bladder infection. And I know we told you that
bladder infections are very common, usually not serious, and you
can either take antibiotics or you know, if you're very lucky,
they can just clear up on their own like magic
(05:41):
fairy dust. Kidney infections are really serious. Uh. They require
prompt medical attention and can permanently damage your kidneys if
the bacteria spread to your blood stream. Yeah. I am
going to Carolinson to you, we're so honest about your
urinary tract infection that you got while you were cram
(06:02):
bearing it up in college. I'm going to cop to
having gotten a kidney infection because I got a bladder
infection and did not take care of it soon enough.
I had no idea what was going on but that
series of symptoms, and I was also on top of it.
I was traveling at the time. Uh. And those symptoms
of back pain, fever of higher than hundred and two, chills, nausea.
(06:27):
It is no joke. I did not know what was
wrong with me, and it was because I I didn't.
I didn't get my bladder infection treated enough and just
started just chugging cranberry juice all the time and thought, Hey,
I've got a strong body, it'll be fine. Nope, should
have gone to the doctor sooner. Um, and actually ended
up in the e R. Did you really, Yeah, because
(06:47):
as soon as they find out that you've got a
kidney infection and I had had it for a while
because I had been traveling, um, and was like, I've
had a fever of a hundred and two for seven days.
Uh yeah. So they sent me straight to the ear
and that is how I spent one labor day. But
I was fine after that. I just needed Did they
just put you on antibiotics? They they put me on Yeah, well,
(07:10):
I had been on antibiotics. They put me on I
think another round of stronger antibiotics and also hooked me
up to the special I V drip of magic. Wow. Yeah.
So not to be totally t m eying out all
of our listeners don't know. I mean, I'm sure as
common as as U t I s are. I mean,
(07:31):
I'm sure other people out there nodding their heads. Yeah,
it's just to me. It was a case study, unfortunately
on myself, of call your doctor. Yeah seriously. And then
finally the last little friend of ours under the U
t I umbrella, which we don't have to go into
detail on because, as I mentioned, we've got another podcast
episode on this our yeast infections. Basically, these east infections
(07:56):
get out of control when there is an imbalance of
the east and it multiplies quickly, and this develops inside
the vagina and around the vaginal opening. And if you've
ever had one, it is also a miserable, miserable experience.
But one thing to keep in mind that I want
to reiterate throughout this podcast because it is not the
most pleasant topic dealing with U t I s. But
(08:19):
like you mentioned, when you were in college, not wanting
to let other people know that you had a U
t I because I feel like since it happens in
and around Genitalia, where really we get really squeamish about
it because it means something you know, might be wrong
or dirty with what's going on there. But no, it's
simply a matter of the proximity of bacteria with anatomy,
(08:41):
and it's bacteria that we all have. Our bodies are
just sesspools of bacteria right well. And it's also not
just I mean, if you're worried about anatomy, I mean
it's not just that women who use broad spectrum antibiotics
or cortica steroids there I got it out are also
at risk for yeast infections. Yeah, and um, whenever we
(09:02):
hear about U t I s a lot of times
that conversation is focused around women because we are more
prone to get them because the female urethra is shorter,
which allows bacteria two more quickly access the bladder, and
a woman's urethral opening is also near sources of bacteria
from the anus and the vagina. I really hope no
(09:25):
one is listening to this podcast also on their lunch break.
Maybe they're on a liquid lunch. I mean, so they're
having some granberry juice. But there are ways that our
urinary systems can protect us against urinary tract infections. We
actually have sort of like guardian bacteria. Yeah, they're they're
in the red suits with the big black hats on.
(09:46):
You know, they can't leave their post. Uh. These are
normally present around a woman's external genital area that guard
the urethral opening, discouraging replication and movement of unwanted bacteria.
But obviously sometimes things go. Sometimes they leave their post. Yes,
sometimes they do leave it. Well, sometimes they are invaded. Yeah,
(10:06):
that's true, and they're like, ah, we got the hats on.
Let's see how long we can continue this metaphor of
our vaginas as Buckingham Palace. Because I'm really enjoyed. That's
what I call my vagina um. The lifetime risk, so
of having a U t I for women is greater
than for men, though men you are not immune to
(10:26):
U t I s either. Yes, your genital anatomy is
a little offers a little more protection. Maybe you have
a few more a few more soldier standing sentinel. And
also your your wreath threat the length of your wreath
from your bladder is longer, but nevertheless, the lifetime risk
for men I believe is twent so it's still happening. Yeah,
(10:48):
And and people do worry about pregnancy, like, oh gosh,
what can go wrong during my pregnancy. Pregnant women are
actually no more likely than non pregnant women to get
a urinary tract infection, but when one to develops, it's
even more likely to travel to the kidneys, and so
pregnant women who get any sort of Obviously, pregnant women
who get any sort of infection need to go to
(11:08):
their doctors, but they definitely need to be aware of
what is happening. And so scientists think that hormonal changes
and shifts in the position of the urinary tract during
pregnancy can make it easier for the bacteria to travel
up to the kidneys and cause infection. Yeah, and there
are other kinds of risk factors, such as spinal cord injuries,
(11:29):
nerve damage around the bladder that might make it hard
for someone to empty their bladder completely and that could
allow bacteria to that grows in the urine to stay
in the bladder. Diabetes, certain types of birth control spermicides
that can irritate the skin, increasing the risk of bacteria growth,
diaphragms that can slow urinary flow, certain kinds of condom
(11:50):
risk that could cause trauma to the vagina during sexual
activity because of friction. Um. Yeah, so there's just a risk.
There are a lot of risk factors. But yeah, speaking
of sexual activity and birth control, sex can move those
microbes from the bowel of regina to the urethral opening,
like we talked about earlier, and it's hard for the
(12:13):
body to remove them quickly enough if they have the
characteristics that allow them to live in the urinary tract
for a longer period. Yeah, I feel like U T
I s are very commonly associated with sex, and one
reason is because and I don't know the doctors are
entirely sure why, but there is sometimes a correlation between
new sex partners and contracting U T e s, which
(12:35):
is why doctors will recommend that women urinate before and
after intercourse. Not because it does anything to ward off pregnancy.
There you can't you can't be out sperm, okay, but
it can flush out bacteria that might have um gotten
(12:57):
into the urethra during sexual activity, and it's just to
flush out that system. But again it is in no
way a form of birth control. Correct. Um, So, now
we've told you about u t s and all these
infections and things, well like once you're done, you're done, right, No,
absolutely not? Uh So about of young women with the
(13:18):
first U t I end up getting another infection, and
each U t I increases the risk of having another one.
And it turns out that you know a few women
actually have U t I s experience U t I
s throughout their lives. Typically a woman will have a
period of one or two years with frequent infections, after
which the recurrent infections taper off. But I did go
(13:41):
on to go ask Alice over at Columbia University's website,
and there was a question from a female student asking
about recurrent U t I. She was essentially like having
U t I symptoms almost once a month and it
was understandably driving her crazy. Uh And the go ask
(14:02):
Alice recommended that if you are in fact having UTI
symptoms on the regular, there could possibly be other things
at work if they're only doing if you go to
the doctor and they're just doing listening to your symptoms
and saying, oh, it's a U t I or only
testing for bacteria, you might actually need a pelvic exam
(14:22):
because there could be other things that work, like a
vaginal infection, irritation to spermocide, and condoms. As we mentioned earlier,
it compressed your wrethra during intercourse, also damaged to mucosa,
which are those good bladder bacteria that normally keep the
bad stuff out. So, in other words, if this is
happening a bunch of times, you might want to instead
(14:43):
of just going to the doctor, getting a prescription filled,
chugging a lot of cranberry, and then it happening all
over again, you might want to have a more comprehensive
exam just to make sure that it's not something else
that's causing those symptoms. Right, And similarly, for men, once
a man has a U t I, he's likely to
have another one because bacteria can hide deep in the
(15:03):
prostate tissue, so they are sneaky now. And speaking of men,
though the rates of U t I are the inverse
of women's over the life term. They are much lower
in young men, but then they rise dramatically in older men.
Do you think it's because that bacteria maybe can hide
out there hiding out well, it does have a lot
(15:24):
to do, I think with urinary stasis, because we mentioned
earlier one of the risk factors was conditions that cause
the urine to just like hang out in your bladder
and collect more bacteria. So that's why doctors always say,
you know, go to the bathroom. Go to the bathroom,
don't sit around and wait and cross your legs. Go
when you have to go, because there are conditions um
bladder outlet obstruction for instance due to benign prostatic hyperplesia,
(15:49):
which are associated with urinary stasis. So conditions that prevent
you from urinating all the way urinate, getting all of
it out, or just when you're not going enough. So
the moral of the story is, let's just pe if
you got to go, go, Yeah. If you have any
sort of obstructions like prostate issues, definitely get that taken
(16:09):
care of because that can lead to bladder and kidney infections.
And yeah, like you said this earlier about of UTIs
occurring men, and they looked at UH between nine and
nineteen ninety four, the lifetime prevalence of U t I
s and adult men was estimated to be a nearly
fourteen percent. And during this time span, just to give
(16:30):
you an idea. The rate for women was fifty, so
still a lot more, a lot more ladies. But guys,
it can still affect you. And you know obviously you
know if you have a female partner that can that
can affect you as well in other ways. UM, so
we've we've given all the bad news about what happens.
(16:51):
Now for some good news about preventing U T I
s uh. In addition to urinate, urinate, urinate, yes, yes,
make sure you just go to the bathroom, just just
live in the bathroom. Can you move your desk at
work into the bathroom. Well, sometimes I feel like I
should move my desk into the bathroom because I do
try to stay very hydrated, which is one I mean
(17:13):
just for overall health, but that is one thing that
doctors recommend to also help you with your urinary track
to keep that in check, which means that some days
I am running back and forth in your bedroom all day.
And one thing that you should be hydrating with if
you're going through this, and we've already talked about this
is cranberry juice. And the theory, one of the theories
(17:33):
is that the vitamin C in cranberry just may combat
U t I s, but they're also chemicals in cranberry
products that help prevent E. Coli from spreading. Kristen, do
you want to pronounce THEE? Yeah, I'm going to give
this a shot. This was um. There's actually been a
lot of research looking into these chemical properties of cranberries
(17:55):
to figure out why it helps with our urinary tract
because fun fact as well, this is coming from the
study that was published in the two thousand nine Journal
of Medicinal Food. Apparently cranberries are one of only three
fruits native to North America, which seems incredibly low. I
did not, but cranberries nevertheless native to North America and
(18:18):
Native Americans would eat them for similar homeopathic reasons back
in the day as well. So scientists even now are
trying to figure out what it is because it's not
just the citrus. Other citrus juices if you don't like
cranberry juice that can also be helpful for that vitamin
C that you mentioned earlier, caroline um. But they think
(18:40):
that it might be a chemical pronto cyanidins in the
cranberry that are thought to um change the structure of E. Coli.
Because icali has the number one kind of bacteria that
causes all of these infections, particularly bladder infections, and chal
I have these hair like projections on them called fimbria
(19:02):
I that are essentially little bacterial fingers that allow them
to hang on to the urinary tract and you know,
camp out there and then climb up there and then
leave me with a degree favor for seven days. I
know these fimbriai no good, but they think that these
cranberry chemicals cause the h these fimbria to curl up instead,
(19:26):
so they can't hang on, so they just slip right down. Yeah,
just like Charlie and his grandfather, Charlie and the chocolate
factory when he goes up in the tube with the
fan and exactly. I think that's actually a diagram in
that study in the two thousand nine Journal of Medicinal
I don't know why my brain goes to these things now.
I like it um And also in the bedroom, because
(19:48):
again there is the association between sexual activity and U
t I S. Practicing safe sex helps safe sex in
the normal thing we think of of, like you know,
using protection, but also like Krista mentioned earlier, urinating before
and after intercourse. Actually I didn't know that some physicians
will prescribe a single pill of antibiotics to be taken
(20:10):
after intercourse by people who are prone to frequent infections. Yeah,
and um, one thing that might help as well is
using water based lubricants, not oil ones that can break
down latex and condoms, but water based lubricants that can
help minimize friction that might be coming from condoms that
could be irritating the urethroll opening and then increasing the
(20:35):
risk of some bacteria getting into their right. And we
also want to obviously practice good hygiene. Make sure you're
wiping front to back, not back to front, because we
don't want any of those microbes making their way from
the anus to the urethra, so practice good hygiene. But also,
I mean, if you are more concerned about yeast infections
as your particular umbrella section of the u T I,
(20:57):
you know, make sure that you keep the vaginal area
clean and dry and use unscented soaps. But also if
you're going swimming or if you're sweating a lodging exercise,
they want you to change out of those wet or
damp clothes pretty much immediately when you get home. Yes,
and I would like to close out this episode on
urinary tract infections with our number one piece of female
(21:19):
hygiene advice. And that's two words, folks. Let's just drill
it into everyone's brains. Don't douche? Yeah, done with the
douche bag, the douche bag, the douche Yes, and yes,
we are referencing our episode of the same name bag
the douche that's right, that you can listen to right
after you listen to your episode on ust infections exactly.
(21:43):
So that is where urinary tract infections come from. They
come from bacteria that get where they're not supposed to go. Yeah,
you send those bacteria pack in, except for the good ones,
the one's with the hats, the ones hanging out outside
of Buckingham Palace, the Royal guard. So uh that I
(22:05):
hope that this has been a helpful primer and next
time I hope that we will come to you with
a more joyous topic. But you know what U t
i s happened, and they happen to men and women,
so we need to know what to do and how
to stop them. So let us know your thoughts on
all of that. Share your stories if you would like,
and if anyone has any more insight on the science
of cranberry juice. Let us know, mom. Stuff at Discovery
(22:29):
dot com is where you can send your letters. And
before we get to a couple of listener emails that
folks have sent in, we have a quick word from
our sponsor that brought us this episode on urinary tract infections.
And it is Netflix dot com where you can go
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(22:54):
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If if you want something fun to catch up on
(23:14):
during the holidays, we highly recommend going to Netflix dot
com slash mom getting your free three day trial and
watching the seminal nineties TV show My So Called Life. Yes,
Homeland fans, if you haven't seen Claire Danes in My
So Called Life, just do it right now. And it's
Netflix dot com slash mom for that free thirty day
(23:36):
trial and titles our subject to availability, so don't wait around.
Head on over and now back to our letters. Yes,
electronic mail. I have some electronic mail here from another
Christian about our Queen B episode. She says, I have
the opposite problem of Queen B syndrome. I now work
(23:59):
in an office of mostly men and desperately wish we
had female leadership. The guys are the male stereotype, incapable
of multitasking, thoughtless, terrible communicators. She says in parentheses, I
once had to slog through mud and heels and a
skirt because one boss never thought to tell me that
the meeting we were going to involve walking dirt paths
instead of sitting in in carpeted meeting rooms. Well, the
(24:21):
women I've had the fortune to work for a take
on the roles of mentor advisor, teacher, supervisor. They'll tell
you when you should wear something you don't normally wear
to the office, check in to see how you're doing,
take the time to explain the process, rather than get
annoyed that you don't already know it, and then turn
around and rule meetings with an iron fist or knock
out an unruly team member with a velvet globe. It
(24:42):
was inspiring in previous jobs to work for strong, capable
women who were great leaders and examples, and I hope
I can be like them when I grow up. And
I would just like to add a note that I
have worked for both wonderful and terrible male bosses and
wonderful and terrible female bosses. So I just wanted to
(25:02):
throw my two cents in there. It happens. Yeah, I've
got one here. Also on Queen Bees from Aliza, and
she writes just a quick note in reference to your
Queen b episode. Back in the day, I used to
work as an assistant in an executive coaching firm, and
I picked up a few tidbits here and there. In
regard to the gender gap, there is a theory that
men aren't necessarily valued more than women, but that they
(25:24):
tend to be negotiating their starting salary more often than
their female counterparts. If Jane accepts he offered twenty five
tho dollar salary and John negotiates set up to twenty
seven thousand dollars, they may receive the same percentage races,
but over time the gap between their salaries will grow.
I don't know if this is completely true, but it
is a thought that has always stayed with me. And yes, overall, Uh,
(25:47):
that is a very common thing that happens in the workplace.
We've talked about this before, where women don't negotiate hard
enough um or will accept the first offer or the
first job that is laid in front of them, where
as men, because of socialization, because of many many factors,
I'm sure, tend to start off with even slightly higher salaries.
(26:11):
But like she correctly points out, that gap is only
going to grow wider and wider. So I think that
things are starting to change if you look at a
different industries, but nevertheless, negotiate. We gotta speak up get
that money, alright, So if you have any tips about
(26:31):
how we can get that money, let's know your thoughts
at mom Stuff at Discovery dot com, or send us
a tip on Facebook or tweet us at mom Stuff podcast,
And of course you can follow us on Tumbler as well.
Stuff Mom Never Told You dot tumbler dot com. And
if you would like to know so much more about
keeping your urinary tract healthy, head over to our website,
(26:54):
It's how stuff Works dot com for more on this
and thousands of other topics. Does it how staff works
dot com? MHM
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