Cystitis

Cystitis is an inflammation of the bladder, usually caused by a bacterial infection. It is by far the most common Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) and as such, the term cystitis has become virtually synonymous with UTI. Cystitis is easily treatable but there are serious dangers if it is not treated appropriately. Therefore, a trip to the doctors office is warranted.

Signs and Symptoms

The most common symptoms of cystitis are urinary frequency, a sense of urgency, and discomfort with urination. This discomfort is usually described as a burning sensation. Another common symptom may be lower abdominal discomfort or pain. Most infections of the bladder remain localized and typically does not cause any systemic signs or symptoms, such as fever, chills, nausea, and vomiting. If these occur, it is likely the infection has traveled up into the kidneys. This is called pyelonephritis and is a much more serious condition that may require a trip to the hospital.

Causes

The most common cause of cystitis is bacteria; specifically the E.Coli bacteria, which is commonly found in the anal region. Some uncommon causes of cystitis include fungal infections, local trauma, radiation, as well as unknown causes (ie: interstitial cystitis)

Diagnosis

Cystitis is easily diagnosed is the doctor's office with a thorough history and physical examination and a urine test. An office test called a clean-catch urine dipstick can easily give clues to whether an infection is present or not. However, a urine culture is the only way to definitively diagnose a bacterial cystitis. Urine culture results will also show the specific type of bacteria that is present and which antibiotics it is resistant to.

Treatment

Treatment for bacterial infections of the bladder are with antibiotics. For healthy patients, 3 days of antibiotics is the current recommendation. For patients with certain conditions, 7 to 10 days of antibiotics are needed. These complicating risk factors include: diabetes mellitus, pregnancy, immunosuppression (AIDS, long-term steroid use, sickle cell disease), an indwelling urinary catheter, history of polycystic kidney disease, kidney stones, neurogenic bladder, and recent urinary tract instrumentation.

Further, all men with cystitis need to be treated for at least 7 days.

Holistic and alternative treatments

Cranberry juice has shown to be beneficial in the prevention of cystitis but it does not play a role in the treatment of the infection. Cranberry juice decreases the ability of bacteria to adhere to the walls of the bladder thus decreasing chance of an infection. However, once an infection is present, cranberry juice can not destroy bacteria.