Before talking about urinary tract infection causes we should discuss what the condition refers to. A urinary tract infection is the situation when one or more parts of the urinary tract get infected, such as the ureters, kidneys, urethra or the bladder. This is a common bacterial infection.
Information on the causes of urinary tract infection
Normally there are no bacteria in the urine. The infection occurs in the moment when bacteria reach the urine and they start to grow. In the majority of the cases the point of origin of the infection is at the urethra, the opening where the urine leaves the body and it spreads upwards.
E coli as one of the causes of urinary tract infection
In about 90% of the cases the infection is the fault of the bacterium known as Escherichia coli, shortly E coli. The interesting thing about the bacteria is that it can be normally found in the bowel and around the anus, so they have to travel little distances to cause an infection.
In case of this one of the urinary tract infection causes the two main culprits are sexual intercourse or poor hygiene. Usually the bacteria are emptied from the urethra when people empty their bladder. Nonetheless in case there are too many of them, the urine may not prevent their spreading.
This way this one of the causes of urinary tract infection can travel all the way up to the bladder to cause an infection. Even more, the infection could spread further from the bladder, using the ureters. In case the bacteria reach the kidney it may result in a kidney infection. If this isn’t treated fast, it could become a serious problem.
Risk factors
There are some risk factors that make people more susceptible to the urinary tract infection causes. These include the people who have a kidney problem that blocks the kidney, such as having kidney stones. The people who have a condition that doesn’t allow them to completely empty their bladder are at risk too.
Also the causes of urinary tract infection are more dangerous for people who have a weakened immune system. These include the people with diabetes or AIDS. The same thing is true for the patients who are taking immunosuppressant drugs, like the people undergoing chemotherapy.
Sexually active women should be more careful regarding the urinary tract infection causes. This is because during intercourse a large amount of bacteria could get to the bladder. The women who have intercourse often are at higher risk. The infection caused by this activity is known as honeymoon cystitis.
Nonetheless the causes of urinary tract infection may be taken care of through urinating right after intercourse. Women who are using diaphragm as a kind of birth control are also at a higher risk than the women opting for other kinds of contraception methods.
As you can see almost everybody is at risk experiencing urinary tract infection causes and there is not much we could do about it.
