Urinary Tract Infections: An Overview
Medical practice is fast evolving in leaps and bounds. Compared to prehistoric times, there are now many evidence-based therapy modalities for almost all disease conditions in humans. From the complex neurological disease to urinary tract infections and skin allergies, modern medicine is currently updated on the best methods of therapy. Urinary tract infection (UTI) belongs to the spectrum of human diseases that might not require outright admission in the hospital.
UTI refers collectively to the infections that can affect any part of the urinary tract. These infections can be diagnosed to be localized in the ureters, kidneys, bladder, or urethra. Generally, UTIs are classified as simple or complicated. If the diagnosis is made as uncomplicated UTI, the infection is considered to be at the early stage and involves no underlying disease condition. In complicated UTIs, there is associated structural or functional abnormality of the genitourinary tract with or without an underlying medical condition.
Classification can also determine the treatment plan and therapy prognosis. In complicated UTI, the presence of an underlying condition can complicate therapy. Many classification schedules also recognize a third class of UTI –recurrent UTI. Recurrent forms of urinary tract infections present without any symptoms, and most times only occur after a symptomatic infection has been treated. Urinary cultures can reveal recurrent UTIs as an abnormal buildup of pathogenic organisms in the urinary tract in quantity insufficient to cause a full-blown infection.
Epidemiology Data on Urinary Tract Infections
Judging from clinical reviews on genitourinary health, adult females are more predisposed to urinary tract infection compared to other population groups. Many epidemiological reviews have suggested that 40% of women develop UTI at a point in their lifetime. Half of this population reportedly experience their first episode of UTI by the age of 24. In 2001, a publication of the Journal of Infectious Disease suggested that Urinary Tract Infections are the most common bacterial infections globally, affecting about 15 million people. In the United States alone, there is over 10 million clinic visit linked with different forms of UTIs.
In other regions of the world with inadequate healthcare plans, the burden of UTIs is significantly higher. In the younger population, the stats are different. A compromised immune system contributes to the risk of developing UTI in the young population. UTIs have been recognized as the leading cause of bacterial infection in children below two years of age. Unhealthy hygiene practices can increase the risk of bacterial colonization of the tract.
If not properly managed in this age group, UTI can cause renal scarring, leading to many health complications in adulthood. The societal cost of Urinary Tract Infections is huge. In 2015, a Nature Reviews publication on Urinary Tract Infections suggested that the societal cost of UTIs –including healthcare and lost work hours –amounts to approximately $3.5 billion in the United States annually.
Treating Urinary Tract Infections at Home
The management of uncomplicated urinary tract infections requires no strict medical supervision. In cases where the infection requires no hospital admission, Urinary Tract Infections are managed on an outpatient basis. Patients simply adhered to a drug therapy plan adopted by the clinician and visit the hospital periodically for therapy review and assessment. Since hospital admission is not necessary for many cases of UTI, many patients prefer to register with online doctor services for treatment. By implication, online UTI treatment is fast becoming a popular segment of telemedicine.
As in erectile dysfunction, many patients consider urinary tract infection to be too sensitive to discuss openly. This explains why clinicians managing patients with UTI are required to ascertain their patient’s comfort level by discussing this condition. Online doctor services provide a comprehensive online UTI treatment plan that covers all aspects of consulting, diagnosis, treatment, and therapy monitoring. These services can provide treatment anonymously –an action that improves the patient’s confidence in discussing symptoms and therapy progress.
An online doctor can simply order the needed laboratory online, design a therapy plan, and issue an online prescription for the treatment of urinary tract infections. The prescription is securely transmitted to a registered pharmacy to be filled. Online doctor services are perfectly designed for the treatment of UTI as it saves the patient the stress of driving long distances or waiting in long queues at the doctor’s clinic. In addition to easy access to therapy, online doctor service for Urinary Tract Infections also directly put patients in charge of their treatment. This patient-focused approach to therapy has been considered effective by many clinical reviews.
How Effective is UTI Home Therapy?
Except in complicated cases with genitourinary abnormalities, lifestyle modification and antibiotics are the mainstays of UTI therapy. Patients are counseled by the clinician to adopt a healthy lifestyle that reduces bacterial growth and improve the body’s innate immunity. Effective antibiotic therapy for UTI is designed after conducting a microbiological sensitivity test –a laboratory diagnostic test revealing the nature and type of bacterial colonization. This investigation helps the doctor to select the right antibiotics in the right dosage to fight the bacterial colony.
Home therapy has proven effective for the treatment of Urinary Tract Infections, especially in cases where the patient adheres strictly to the therapy plan. Online doctor services for UTI also include a therapy monitoring plan. These services use telemedicine to assess therapy and help the online doctor ascertain a need for therapy modification. Using advanced technology in a communication system, the patient can inform the online doctor of the recent improvement (or complications) in therapy.
The therapy monitoring plan also allows the doctor to closely monitor drug resistance. Multidrug resistance is a major problem associated with antibiotics therapy globally. By matching the projected treatment outcome with drug selection, the doctor can swiftly recognize a case of emerging resistance and immediately modify the therapy plan. Online doctor UTI treatment is fast gaining recognition in the telemedicine industry. This service makes it simple and possible for patients to treat Urinary Tract Infections in the comfort of their homes.
