Causes of Urinary Tract Infection You Need to Know
Urinary tract infection or UTI is a bacterial infection that attacks the urinary tract area of the body. Urinary tract infections occur because germs enter the urinary tract and move towards the urethra. What are the causes that can cause an infection in the urinary tract?
Symptoms of urinary tract infection
Before knowing the various causes of the disease, you should first identify the various symptoms that can arise due to urinary tract infections. Actually, the symptoms you feel can vary, depending on which part is affected by the infection. However, this disease also certainly has general signs that the patient will experience.
Do you know about anyang-anyangan? Anyang-anyangan is one of the common symptoms of urinary tract infection. Here are some other symptoms that can indicate an infection in your urinary tract.
- Urine will come out like blood or cloudy.
- Often feel like peeing.
- If you have urinated, the urine will not come out much, and it will be accompanied by pain.
- Urine will smell strong and unpleasant.
- The lower abdomen around the genitals will feel crampy and uncomfortable.
- Body temperature will rise so that sometimes a fever occurs.
Causes of urinary tract infections
Basically, the main cause of this disease is a bacterial infection called escherichia coli, or also called E. coli, which attacks the urinary tract.
Please note, there are a large number of bacteria that live around the genitals, rectum, and skin. The bacteria that is around the genitals can enter the urine through the urethra and then travel to the bladder.
Even in some cases, bacteria can also enter the kidneys. This is why urinary tract infections can lead to complications in the form of pyelonephritis (kidney infection) if left untreated.
Everyone is at risk for this disease, but the risk is greater in women because women have shorter urethral tubes. Some people with certain conditions are also more susceptible to urinary tract infections. The following are various factors that can cause urinary tract infections.
1. Not cleaning the genitals properly
Bacteria can enter the urethral tract and cause infection due to improper cleaning of the genitals, especially in women. If you clean your genitals by rubbing your hands from the anus forward, this will carry bacteria from the anus to the vagina, which can put you at risk of infection.
Usually, the spread of bacteria occurs when you clean your genitals or after urinating. Sometimes the bacteria still stick and multiply. Therefore, one of the preventive steps you should take is to wash your genitals from front to back or from the vagina to the anus.
2. Do not urinate after sexual intercourse
Sex can be one of the causes of urinary tract infections. Usually these bacteria are spread through sexual activity between men and women.
This happens because during penetration, the penis or fingers can encourage bacteria to enter the urethra and bladder. If you don’t urinate after sex, the bacteria will multiply and cause infection.
It is for this reason that it is highly recommended for women to urinate immediately after sex to avoid the risk of urinary tract infections. You can also urinate before doing it.
3. Lack of drinking water
When the body does not drink enough, the kidneys will lose fluids. In fact, the kidneys need fluids in order to function better. Lack of fluids will make you urinate less often so that the urine turns more concentrated. Lack of fluid in the kidneys can provoke bacteria to attack, resulting in urinary tract infections.
Therefore, you should drink more water or meet the recommended needs per day to prevent infection in other organs of the body.
4. Immune system
As is well known, the body has its own mechanisms to fight disease. The immune system works to fight bacteria and viruses that will prevent you from health problems.
When the immune system is low or compromised, the function of fighting pathogens that cause disease will be reduced. As a result, you will be more susceptible to diseases such as urinary tract infections.
Usually this is experienced by people who have health problems such as diabetes, given that high blood sugar levels can weaken the immune system.
5. Urine blocking disease
Several diseases related to the urinary system can cause urinary tract infections. Usually, infection occurs as a complication of diseases that obstruct the flow of urine such as kidney stones or BPH (benign prostate enlargement) in men.
In an enlarged prostate, for example, this disease makes the urethral tract (the outlet of urine from the body) narrow. As a result, the patient is unable to empty the bladder. The urine that remains in it is an ideal bacterial growth medium.
This factor is also almost the same in the habit of holding back pee for a long time.
6. Use of contraceptives
Women who use contraceptives in the form of a diaphragm have a higher risk of developing urinary tract infections than those who use other forms of contraception.
In addition, the use of spermicidal agents in contraceptives can also cause urinary tract infections.
7. Catheter installation
For people who have certain conditions or after surgery, they usually can’t urinate on their own, so they need a tube called a catheter to help drain the urine out of the body. Unfortunately, catheter placement can also be a cause of urinary tract infection.
Usually this occurs in people who are hospitalized or people with nerve problems that make it difficult to control their ability to urinate.
Indeed, urinary tract infection can occur because there are factors from other diseases suffered by the patient. However, it turns out that there are also many daily habits that can trigger disease.
Therefore, if you don’t want to get the disease, then do all the healthy habits that can prevent you from urinary tract infections. Some of them are cleaning the genitals in the right way, drinking enough mineral water, and always maintaining the health and cleanliness of the genital area or femininity.
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