Kidney infection is a type of urinary tract infection that generally begins in the urethra or bladder and travels to one or both of your kidneys and hinders their primary function in excreting the body's waste products from the digestive process, and controlling and regulating blood contents and the amount of water and salts in the body.
Kidney infection requires immediate medical attention; Because if not treated properly, it can permanently damage your kidneys or the bacteria can spread to your bloodstream and cause another life-threatening infection.
In order not to develop into a bigger problem that threatens your health, learn with us in this report the symptoms of kidney infection; Its causes, methods of treatment and prevention.
Symptoms of kidney infection
To avoid developing a serious health condition, the Mayo Clinic recommends paying attention to the following signs and symptoms of kidney infection:
fever and chills;
Back, side (flank) or thigh pain.
stomach ache.
Frequent urination and a strong and constant urge to urinate.
A burning or pain sensation when urinating.
Vomiting and nausea.
blood in the urine;
foul-smelling urine
The multiplication of bacteria in the urinary tract is one of the causes of kidney infection
Bacteria that enter the urinary tract through the tube that carries urine from your body (the urethra) can multiply and travel to your kidneys. This is the most common cause of kidney infection.
Bacteria from an infection elsewhere in the body can also spread through the bloodstream to the kidneys, although this is not very common.
A person may also develop nephritis after kidney surgery, although this is rare.
Be careful, these factors increase your risk of developing kidney disease
According to Webmd for Medicine and Health, factors that increase your risk of developing kidney infection include:
- Women are more susceptible: The urethra in women is shorter than in men, which facilitates the transmission of bacteria from outside the body to the bladder. The proximity of the urethra to the vagina and anus creates more opportunities for bacteria to enter the bladder. Once in the bladder, the infection can spread to the kidneys. How pregnant women are more likely to get a kidney infection.
- Having a urinary tract obstruction: This includes anything that slows the flow of urine or reduces your ability to empty your bladder when you urinate - including kidney stones , any organic problem with the structure of the urinary tract, or an enlarged prostate gland in men.
- Weakened immune system: Certain health conditions can weaken your immune system, such as diabetes and HIV. Also, some medications that are taken to prevent rejection of transplanted organs, for example, have a similar effect.
- Damage to the nerves around the bladder: Damage to the nerves or spinal cord can block the sensation of a bladder infection so that you are unaware when it develops into a kidney infection.
- Use of a urinary catheter: Urinary catheters are tubes used to drain urine from the bladder and are usually used during and after certain surgical procedures and diagnostic tests. But in some cases of illness that oblige the person to bed, they may be used for long periods; Which may cause infection and inflammation in the kidneys.
- A condition that causes urine to flow the wrong way: In a condition called vesicoureteral reflux, small amounts of urine flow from the bladder into the ureters and kidneys. People with this condition are more likely to develop kidney infections during childhood and adulthood.
If kidney infection is not treated, it can lead to serious complications
If left untreated, kidney inflammation can lead to potentially serious complications, such as kidney scarring that can lead to chronic kidney disease, high blood pressure and kidney failure.
The kidneys filter waste from the blood and return the filtered blood to the rest of the body. Therefore, infection with a kidney infection can lead to the spread of bacteria through the bloodstream, causing inflammation of the blood (or septicemia) if not treated.
Women who have a kidney infection during pregnancy may also be more likely to give birth to low birth weight babies.
You can prevent kidney infection by following these tips
You can keep the kidneys healthy and reduce the risk of infection by following these steps:
- Drink fluids, especially water; It helps remove bacteria from your body when you urinate.
- Avoid delaying urination when you feel the urge to urinate.
- Empty the bladder after intercourse to remove bacteria from the urethra, reducing the risk of infection.
- Cleaning from front to back after urination and after a bowel movement helps prevent bacteria from spreading into the urethra.
Kidney infection treatment
In the case of a kidney infection, doctors usually prescribe antibiotics for a week or two, which may improve and relieve symptoms.
But if the infection is severe, the person may have to stay in the hospital and get antibiotics intravenously (IV), through needles.
If kidney infections persist, there may be a problem with the structure of the urinary tract and these types of problems often need surgery.
Home remedies may help relieve symptoms and pain
Although medical treatment is necessary, you can do a few things at home to feel better while you have a kidney infection, as Medical News Today points out :
Drink plenty of fluids to flush out germs.
Get some extra rest.
Use a heating pad on your stomach, back, or side.
Drink cranberry juice, which helps reduce the number of bacteria when a person has a UTI.
Take green tea extract, which may have an antibacterial effect on common strains of bacteria known to cause urinary tract infections.