Nobody Wants A Urinary Tract Infection
Come on, y’all, this is a no-brainer. Is there anyone out there who would actually prefer to wait and treat an active urinary tract infection with antibiotics rather than preventing it from occurring in the first place?
I think not.
The Situation With Urinary Tract Infections
UTIs are serious business. Up to 60% of all women will develop a UTI in their lifetimes, and 20-30% of those infected will develop recurrent urinary tract infections.1The most affected populations are sexually active premenopausal women, the elderly and institutionalized, and children. UTIs are one of the most common infections in hospitals. One 12-month study of a district general hospital found that UTIs were responsible for 35% of all infections in the entire hospital.2
People who use urinary catheters are also at higher risk for urinary tract infection. Catheter-associated UTI is the most common hospital-acquired infection, accounting for greater than 1 million infections per year.3
SEE ALSO: Can You Only Get UTIs From Sexual Activity?
More Bad News
The only proven UTI cure is antibiotics. Why is this a problem? Several Reasons.- Antibiotics, while sometimes life-saving, can have harmful side effects on your body like nausea, diarrhea, and sometimes as serious as nerve damage.
- Antibiotics weaken your immune system, leaving you vulnerable to other infections.
- The more we use (read: overuse) antibiotics, the more bacteria develop resistance to them, making future infections untreatable. A recent study found up to 30% of antibiotics prescribed in the US were unnecessary.
SEE ALSO: What Everyone With Recurring UTIs Need To Know
Aren’t Antibiotics A UTI Prevention Method?
Short answer: yes. Long answer: not if you can help it.
Here’s the problem:
Currently, the most common UTI prevention method is either a long term low-dose of antibiotics, self-start antibiotics, or post-coital antibiotics. Besides the obvious detriments to your health (listed above) that continuous use of antibiotics will cause, we are also entering an era where antibiotics may no longer be an option due to increased resistance to them.
The End For Antibiotics Is Near
CDC director Tom Frieden told The Washington Post that the discovery of a new multi-drug-resistant strain of bacteria “basically shows us that the end of the road isn’t very far away for antibiotics—that we may be in a situation where we have patients in our intensive-care units, or patients getting urinary tract infections for which we do not have antibiotics.”
As bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics, urinary tract infections are going to become more and more difficult to treat. If a UTI remains untreated, it could develop into more serious infections, sepsis, or even death.
That is why it is crucial that we take the simple steps required to prevent UTIs from occurring in the first place.
SEE ALSO: Sepsis, Death, And Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs: The Consequences Of Underestimating The Seriousness Of UTIs
Tell Me About UTI Prevention
My pleasure. The number one thing you need to start doing is (drumroll please) DRINK MORE FLUIDS.
Yep, it’s true. The best way to prevent recurring UTIs is to make sure you are properly hydrated. One study showed that at-risk women who increased their water intake by 1.5 liters were significantly less likely to experience recurring UTIs than those who did not.4
The Other Little Lifestyle Secret
Have you heard of d-mannose yet? It’s a natural sugar found in berries and other fruits that has been scientifically proven to bind to the UTI-causing bacteria, preventing it from attaching to your urinary tract.5
Dmanna: The UTI-Prevention Daily Supplement
D-mannose is the primary ingredient in Dmanna, a pre-measured and prepackaged daily supplement that dissolves in any beverage. It is the safest, most affordable and effective treatment for UTIs currently on the market, with no long term side effects.
Dmanna is on a mission to reduce annual urinary tract infections by half through scientific research, community education, and product development.
Ready to give Dmanna’s UTI-prevention powder a go? Click below for more information.
- Urinary-tract infections send millions of people to the doctor each year
- Increased human pathogenic potential of Escherichia coli from polymicrobial urinary tract infections in comparison to isolates from monomicrobial culture samples
- Epidemiology of urinary tract infections: incidence, morbidity, and economic costs.
- Drinking More Water Reduces Repeat Urinary Tract Infections
- Intervening with Urinary Tract Infections Using Anti-Adhesives Based on the Crystal Structure of the FimH–Oligomannose-3 Complex