Urinary tract infections are common – and can be terribly uncomfortable. Here’s advice on how to cope with them.
YOU constantly feel an urgent need to go, but when you do there isn’t a massive stream like you’d expected – just a trickle. And yet it feels as if you haven’t quite emptied your bladder.
Sound familiar? If it does, you’re not alone. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common infections, affecting an estimated 150 million people worldwide every year.
Women have a 50 % chance of getting a UTI in their lifetime, experts say, and around 30 to 40 % of patients get repeat infections.
UTIs are bacterial infections in the urinary system and can occur anywhere from the bladder to the kidneys.
The vast majority are caused by the E. coli bacterium, says Rosebank-based general practitioner Dr Belinda Ogundipe. They’re usually not serious, but UTIs can be problematic if left untreated.
Here’s what you need to know.
IT’S NOT JUST A ‘WOMAN THING’
While women stand a higher chance of getting a UTI, men are by no means immune. “Men, women and children get it,” Dr Ogundipe says.
UTIs affect women of all ages and the reasons they’re more at risk than men are biological. In women, the urethra (the tube that goes from the bladder to where urine is excreted) is much shorter than in men.
Denne historien er fra June 15, 2017-utgaven av Drum English.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra June 15, 2017-utgaven av Drum English.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Homegrown Heroes
Drum speaks to two volunteers in the Covid-19 vaccine trial and the professor heading the team in Africa
The Big Clean Up
Whenever a Covid-19 case is confirmed at a shop, they call in the deep-cleaners. We find out exactly how they disinfect stores and supermarkets
I'm Back & Better!
Babes Wodumo shares what she’s been up to in lockdown – and there’s some new music on the horizon
Not An Easy Ride
Taxi commuters and industry players tell DRUM what’s driving them to defy lockdown rules
Mam' Mary Bows Out
Iconic actress Mary Twala is fondly remembered by friends and family for her humour and talent
‘They Lived For Each Other'
This Cape Town teen’s parents died from Covid-19 on the same day. Now she’s alone and battling the virus too
Stranger Than Fiction
For actor Mangaliso Ngema and his daughter Khosi Ngema, her role in Blood & Water was like watching their family’s real-life story unfold
I Was Raped By A Pastor
His accusations against a well-known man of the cloth turned an Eastern Cape man’s life into turmoil but now more victims have spoken out
My Fight With Life And Death
More Covid-19 patients, too few beds and staff, constant sanitising and personal fears – a Western Cape doctor shares her experience
I AM ENOUGH
Ten years after being set alight, Thembi Maphanga is living life to the fullest