UTIs – They are not just affecting women.
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common outpatient infection in the US with around 60% of women experiencing them at some point in their lives (2). In the UK, it is estimated that almost half of women have had a UTI – that’s around 33 million women! (1). People usually associate UTIs with younger women, but women over 40 are very likely to suffer from UTIs due to hormonal changes. And don’t forget about men, who from their 50’s onwards can start suffering from UTIs due to an enlarged prostate, also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
The take home message here is: UTIs affect both men and women, young and old.
Again and again…
For anyone who has had a mild UTI (and most of us have) it may seem extreme to use the word crisis when talking about UTIs. But the extent of reoccurrence, impact on quality of life and huge cost to the national health service certainly gives pause for thought. Now add the issue of antibiotic resistance to this and it is clear that there is a worldwide crisis of chronic UTIs that urgently needs addressing.
The bad news for those who get a UTI is that having one UTI means your chance of getting them again is significantly increased. A quarter to 1/3 of women who have a UTI experience a repeated infection within 6 months (3). This places a burden on the health service (doctor visits, prescriptions) but also affects the quality of life and mental health of the sufferers, as well as for older adults where the risk of additional medical complications is higher.
The current medical standard for UTI testing was established many decades ago and has not caught up with the science. It is antiquated and perpetuates endless cycles of chronic infections that end up causing kidney damage.
Bottom line: the current standard of care – few days of antibiotics – is failing in more than half of the cases.
So, a simple infection can have profound consequences.
Antibiotics? Not the long-term answer.
Antibiotics play a vital role in the treatment of serious infections and surgical procedures, and their use should be safeguarded for serious infections.
Routine use of antibiotics actually renders them ineffective (4)(5). Millions of women are stuck in cycles of antibiotics and yeast infections while still suffering from UTIs. In addition to this, overuse of antibiotics for recurrent UTIs has a negative effect on a person’s microbiome, the bacteria living in our gut, further weakening the immune system.
It is imperative to consider alternative treatments that work better for the individual and for the current and future health of the global population (6)
URALIX works to rid the body of the ‘bad’ E. coli bacteria in the urinary tract – even the antibiotic resistant ones, while addressing the inflammation of the bladder wall without side-effects. It does protect the healthy bacteria in our body as well as our environment.
References
- Kidney Research UK.www.kidneyresearchuk.org
- Medina, M., & Castillo-Pino, E. (2019). An introduction to the epidemiology and burden of urinary tract infections. Therapeutic advances in urology, 11, 1756287219832172. https://doi.org/10.1177/1756287219832172
- Harvard Health Publishing, When urinary tract infections keep coming back, September 2019 https://www.health.harvard.edu/bladder-and-bowel/when-urinary-tract-infections-keep-coming-back
- https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/13/health/urinary-infections-drug-resistant.html
- https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2020/06/25/antibiotic-resistance-and-other-things-you-need-to-know-about-utis-understanding-utis-part-7
- https://bluegreenhealth.co.uk/why-uralix/
Dr. Naomi Newman-Beinart, PhD
Nutritionist (BSc) & Chartered Psychologist specialising in Health (PhD)