5 Tips To Prevent UTIs

 Drink 4-5 litres of water to hydrate the body and produce about 2-3.5 litres of urine, which in turn flushes the bacteria out of the urinary bladder.

 Alkali solutions or carbonated drinks make urine alkaline and reduce burning, but does not correct dehydration. This can be harmful (in the absence of water intake), and therefore, should not be resorted to as the first line of treatment.

 Tea and Coffee usually prevent or eliminate thirst and thus prevent adequate water intake, so should be avoided during summer.

 Cranberry juice contains chemicals that prevent bacterial adhesion to the lining of the urethra and bladder. One glass of cranberry juice daily, or a supplement of cranberry extracts, can prevent recurrent UTI due to E Coli.

 Not holding urine for prolonged periods reduces bacterial proliferation in the bladder.

The Role Gender Plays In UTIs

Dr Sanand Bag, Senior Urologist and Kidney Transplant Surgeon at Yashoda Hospitals, explained, "Women are more prone to infections because of shorter urethras. Researchers looked at the seasonal effect and found that women aged between 18 to 44 years were more prone to infections during summer, and the reason was dehydration."

Urinary Tract Infections are rare in adult males before 50 years but increase in incidence thereafter, owing to anatomic abnormalities, urinary dribbling, slow stream and inflammation of the bladder.

Other common forms of UTI in males include involvement of prostate (prostatitis), swelling in testicle, scrotum, varying degrees of involvement of kidneys (pyelonephritis) presenting as flank pain, fever, vomiting, feeling low or uneasy, renal abscess and severe septic shock.

Dr Sanjay Sinha, Senior Consultant Urologist and Transplant Surgeon at Apollo Hospitals, says, "Diabetics with poor control of sugars are more prone to Urinary Tract Infections and are on antibiotics to control the same. For the effective action of antibiotics, it’s important to keep the kidneys in good condition."