Causes-Risk Factors And Diagnosis Of Kidney Infection


by Groshan Fabiola - Date: 2007-02-08 - Word Count: 418 Share This!

Bacteria can infect your kidneys by way of your bloodstream, or, by entering your urinary tract through the urethra and starting to multiply. Infections that come through your bloodstream usually have their origin at another infected area of your body. Although the urinary system has properties that inhibit the growth of bacteria, there are factors that favor the bacteria to enter in the urinary tract, multiply and develop an infection. Not always having bacteria in the urine means that you have an infection. There are cases of persons, especially older adults that have bacteria in the bladder that don't cause any symptoms or harm, and there is no need for a treatment, fact called asymptomatic bacteriuria.

Because women have a much shorter urethra than men, they develop a greater risk of infection. That is a consequence of the fact that bacteria needs to travel a shorter distance from the outside the body till it reaches the bladder. Once the infection has started in the bladder, it is easy to spread to the kidneys. The risk of kidney infection grows during pregnancy and after menopause because of the hormonal changes, and also on sexually-active women and on those who use diaphragms and spermacides. It is also known that even women who aren't sexually active and young girls are susceptible to kidney infection because the female urethra is close to the anus, which is a constant source of bacteria.

Structural abnormalities in the urinary system, kidney stone, an enlarge prostate gland in man, can impede the ability of completely emptying the bladder, increasing the chance of developing kidney infection. Other factors that may favorize the apparition of kidney infection are medications that lower your immunity, prolonged use of tubes used to drain urine from the bladder, diseases like cancer, HIV, diabetes or a condition that allows urine flow from your bladder back up into your urethras and kidneys, called vesicoureteral reflux. It is known that people who have this vesicoureteral reflux are susceptible of developing frequent kidney infection during childhood .

It is very important that you contact the doctor at the very first signs of kidney infection. An urine sample will be demanded from you if the doctor suspects you have kidney infection. That sample is needed because the doctor will have to determine whether blood, pus or bacteria is in your urine. Although kidney infection can't be differentiated very easy from bladder infection, the presence of fever and upper back pain is a sign that the infection extended into the kidney.


Related Tags: kidney infection, treatment for kidney infection

For more resources about kidney infection or especially about please review treatment for kidney infection please review http://www.kidney-infection-center.com/treatment-for-kidney-infection.htm

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