Urinary tract infections in men become more common with age – This is how you recognize them – 2024-05-01 05:49:37

In women, urinary tract infections are a very common problem. Up to half of women suffer from at least one urinary tract infection during their lifetime, and the risk for infections clearly increases after menopause.

In men, however, urinary tract infections are rare in young and even middle-aged men. With aging, urinary tract infections become more common, and then they are often associated with prostate hyperplasia. At older ages, they are almost as common in men as in women.

According to the current treatment recommendation, about one in six men who have reached an advanced age has had a urinary tract infection.

Bladder infection is usually caused by bacteria getting up from the intestines, perineum or groin up the urethra to the bladder. Men have a longer urethra than women, which helps protect them from infections. Prostate secretions can also have an effect that inhibits bacterial growth.

Burning, peeing and lower abdominal pain. A urinary tract infection is a nasty problem, which fortunately, an antibiotic usually helps quickly. Adobe Stock / AOP

Usually 3 symptoms

Wellness coach Aki Manninen48, said that last weekend he was hospitalized due to severe lower abdominal pain.

Manninen said that he was extremely startled by the blood that came with the urine. He was initially diagnosed with a urinary tract infection and treated with a course of antibiotics.

Bloody urine can be one of the symptoms of a urinary tract infection, but it is not usual, says the professor, specialist in clinical microbiology Risto Vuento In the Health Library article.

The symptoms are usually accompanied by an increased need to urinate, a burning sensation when urinating and a burning sensation in the lower abdomen. If all three of these symptoms occur, there is a 90 percent chance of a bladder infection. Urine may also smell bad or be cloudy.

A high fever and general symptoms such as nausea and vomiting and back pain can indicate that the infection has spread to the kidneys. In the very elderly and in poor health, the infection of the kidney basin and the sepsis that is sometimes associated with it can be seen only in the form of a collapse of the general condition and the appearance of vomiting and confusion.

Urinary tract infection can also cause epididymitis in men.

Man, always see a doctor

In women, a urinary tract infection does not always require a visit to the doctor and a urine sample, if the woman recognizes the symptoms as a urinary tract infection, is in basic health, is not pregnant and the symptoms are mild.

Then the doctor or nurse can prescribe antibiotic medication based on the symptoms alone, for example by telephone.

Instead, men should always see a doctor for urinary symptoms so that the cause of the infection can be determined from a urine sample. In febrile inflammation, the inflammatory value (CRP) is also measured.

A male bladder infection usually requires seven days of antibiotic treatment. You should also drink a lot of water, as it speeds up the recovery from inflammation.

If the symptoms persist despite antibiotic treatment or the inflammation recurs frequently, further examinations are needed. Sometimes the background of a urinary tract infection can be, for example, a poorly emptying bladder. The cause of urethritis can be a sexually transmitted disease, usually chlamydia, sometimes gonorrhea.

The risk of urinary tract infection is also increased by various diseases of the urinary tract, procedures aimed at them, and general diseases such as diabetes. Institutional treatment also increases the risk of inflammation.

Specialist in surgery and urology, docent Mika Raitanen emphasized in Iltalehti’s previous article that bloody urine always requires further investigations. Sometimes hematuria has a more serious cause: the single most common symptom of bladder cancer is bloody urine. Bladder cancer turns out to be the cause in every fifth person who comes to the doctor because of hematuria.

In bladder cancer, however, the urine sample is usually clean, i.e. bacteria are not detected.

Sources: Terveyskylä.fi: Urinary tract infection in men, Valid treatment recommendation, Terveyskirjast.fi: Urinary tract infection