Urinary tract includes kidneys, bladder, ureters and urethra. Infection can occur in any part of the urinary tract and more women than men are prone to develop UTI. It may cause burning sensation while urinating and one may often have urge to pass urine frequently. Bacteria are the main cause for UTI and treatment involves strong antibiotics for destroying bacteria.
Organs Of Urinary Tract :
Before knowing more information about the symptoms, causes and risk factors of UTI you need to understand about its organs.
- Kidneys (2 in no.) are the vital organs that eliminate wastes and other toxic substances from the body. It also filters and removes excess of water from the blood. In addition to these, kidneys are involved in regulating blood pressure. Kidneys can easily be damaged due to increased blood sugar levels and hypertension (blood pressure).
- Ureters are long narrow tubing measuring 10-12 inches in length which delivers the urine collected from the kidney to the bladder.
- Bladder is a small pouch meant for collecting and storing urine. When the bladder gets almost full the person would have the urge to pass urine. Bladder muscles contract automatically to expel the urine.
- Finally the urethra is a tube through which urine is expelled.
UTI can affect any of the above parts. Upper UTI affects the kidneys and ureters and lower UTI affects bladder and urethra. More than 7 million people have urinary tract infection in the USA alone each year. It ranks 2nd after respiratory tract infection among the various kinds of infection affecting people. Often adult are likely to develop UTI but rarely children may also get UTI.
Symptoms :
Not all kinds of UTI would have visible signs. Moderate form of UTI may show symptoms like persistent urge to pass urine, burning pain while urinating and passing urine frequently in small amounts. Urine would be more or less cloudy and would contain trace of blood in it for some people. Urine may be foul smelling if the infection is severe.