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Page 15
| or electrical charge of the whole tract, especially the repelling charges on the surface membranes of the mucosa. This helps to keep the surface clean and resistant to any but small amounts of friendly organisms. |
| Then there are the simple mechanics of bacterial infections . . . they can't swim upstream when there is regular evacuation of normal urine going downstream. They can move upstream, however, when there are long periods of adrenalin stress with infrequent urination followed by renal overcompensation with watery urine having a low acidity and charge or when there is incomplete evacuation of the bladder. |
| In addition, the bladder has several defense mechanisms of its own to clear out bacteria, including the release of antibodies into the urine and the production of specialized mucus starches that clump up bacteria, block their attachment and clear them out of the bladder through the urine. In men, prostate secretions are further inhibitors of infection. |
| In general then, the free flow of acidic urine, full urine volume, complete emptying of the bladder and healthy immune functions are the body's best antibacterial defenses. |
| What Causes UTIs |
| Bladder infections in women are surprisingly common. Twenty-one percent of all women have some urinary tract discomfort at least once a year, 37.5 percent of women with no previous urinary tract infection will have an episode within ten years and up to 4 percent of apparently healthy women have elevated levels of abnormal bacteria in their urine, presumably from an asymptomatic infection. |
| Further, women with a history of recurrent UTIs will usually have an episode at least once every year. Recurrent |
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