Issue Date: January 20, 2008
Women, you can help prevent urinary infections
Everyday action is proven to cut occurrence.
By Susan T. Lennon
One in five women will experience the pain and distress of recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI) during her life.
In fact, UTIs are the second most common bodily infection, accounting for 8.3 million doctor visits per year. Men get them, too, but -- for reasons that no one completely understands -- not nearly as often as women do, reports the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse.
Judi Lee Chervenak, M.D., associate clinical professor at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, says that you should talk to your health care provider about the following medically oriented remedies: drinking cranberry juice (caution, Coumadin users), getting acupuncture, using probiotics and taking antibiotics.
Combined with the lifestyle guidelines listed in the box below, those everyday actions can reduce recurrences of UTIs by 95%.
Ways to prevent UTIs:
Drink a lot of water, and drink it frequently.
Urinate often and completely, no matter how rushed you are.
Void before and after sexual intercourse.
Wipe from front to back.
Avoid hanging around in a wet bathing suit or your sweaty workout clothes.
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