GynoFiles

Routine testing of your urine is the first step in figuring out a whole host of conditions of the female. Now days, we use these handy strips of paper, some of which can be purchased right at the local drug store.  The urine flask, known as matula in ancient times became a symbol of medical practice that is still recognized today! So while we don't usually smell the urine any more (water casting), we as gynos do have to be tuned into the various types of urine that our patients report. On the other hand, too much testing of urine has been accused of bringing on unnecessary treatments, so keep that in mind the next time you are tested!  The ancient Greeks would elaborately hold up flasks of urine and peer at them to diagnose the problems.And it's a good guess, as even now we know that different colors to the urine are associated with varied medical diagnoses. I often get asked about all manner of urine questions, but one that is often the most curious to women is about the ...

What you can do to stop urinary tract infections 1.      The best reason to try some of these strategies is to get to the point of avoiding antibiotic use 2.      Change your contraception and your sexual behaviors, spermicide use, diaphragm use definitely increases risk for UTIs; and read labels condom use is also implicated, especially condoms with spermicide in it 3.      Be sure to drink a lot of water during the day, but then do try to urinate after you have sex 4.      ? Cranberry juice  — like fashion, sometimes it’s in sometimes its not. If you want to avoid the calories of juice you can try the pills, however the sugar in this juice may actually be the reason it works. Regular consumption of cranberry juice is not considered routine any longer as many studies have been inconclusive to it’s ability to help, but all agree: not harmful 5.      Taking regula...

Apparently that cranberry juice can prevent the adherence of bacteria to the lining cells of the bladder,and thus prevent Urinary Tract Infections (UTI).  This and Vitamin C have both been studied in pregnancy and they are both safe to use. For Vitamin C it's as little as a 100 mg daily dosage. But a glass a day is sufficient as you don't want to have too much as their is such a thing as Cranberry Juice Withdrawal?  Cranberry juice will work to hold off or even cure bladder infections but you may not be able to stop! Cranberries contain flavonoids. For years gynos debated as to what about the cranberry juice helped to prevent infections, it was thought that urine became more acidic, but apparently it just causes a slippery wall to the bladder. The E.coli bacteria, which cause most infections, then cannot stick to these slippery walls. This is a great technique for preventing infection, as there is no resistance that develops unlike the resistance we can develop from ...

Bladder infections are very common. women do not have sterile urine and subtle changes in urinary tract health will increase one's chance of an overt infection, or even progression to chronic infections. Gynos have focused on the problems of sex, spermicide use, recent infections, incomplete bladder emptying, vaginal atrophy, poor hygiene around the rectum and near the vagina, pelvic floor problems, diabetes as some of the inciting causes bladder infections. We test for infections based on mid stream urine collection. Now add menopause to the list of problems that cause poor bladder health. One common complaint can be bladder infections, which increase in women after menopause. In a new study reported from Washington University in St. Louis, and appearing on Infection and immunity an on line publication, mice who are low in estrogen have increased risk of bladder infections. The mice, after estrogen treatment, had fewer infections. This has to do with levels of inflammation wit...

Women leak urine for a variety of reasons. Your diet, your activity, your weight, your anatomy, how many kids you have had, how much lifting you do, how many Kegel's exercises you have done, the medications you are on, whether you need more estrogen: the list of reasons for leaking a bit of pee goes on and on! And it's something you and your gyno can discuss at length. A study that looked at some solutions short of surgery had some interesting conclusions:

Pain that is in the lower genital region, or groin, that has no obvious accompanying problem with the uterus or the ovaries could be a bladder problem. the problem can actually be a stone that can be located in the bladder, or the kidney, or the tube leading to the kidney called the ureter. Urinary calculi, also known as nephrolithiasis, urolithiasis or stones are becoming more common all the time. Most of the stones are calcium, actually in a form called calcium oxalate. A small percent of stones are from cysteine or uric acid or magnesium based. In most cases there is no disease that actually produces calcium levels that are too high leading to these calcium containing stones, but rarely there are. Other nutritional factors do affect kidney stones. Very high protein diets, particularly in diabetics or the elderly with poorer renal function will secrete more calcium in their urine and thus have another reason to form calcium stones in their urine. Most women with stones don't a...

Bladder cultures are often considered the standard of care for detection of infection when you've got the symptoms, or when you don't have the symptoms. In fact the concept of asymptomatic bacteriura has been well accepted by gynos for many years. But just what does that culture mean? How many organisms can your lab test for, and how accurate that testing is aside, there is more two it. According to a landmark study by Kass in the 1960s, if you just test a woman for the second time, at least a 5th will not have a positive culture if you actually test the second time. Humm, what's up here? Just cleaning better after we've done it the second time, yes, that honestly is a contributing factor. So when you have an infection, and you want to avoid antibiotics, maybe a second test is in order. One thing is for sure, no test, is probably a lot less accurate one way or the other.

Bladder disconnect is also called overactive bladder, and it is fairly common and there can be a lot of signs of this problem. You sit on the toilet. You pee. But did you really pee all that was there? Normally when we are busy, or at work we don't want to pee frequently so we get in the habit of not going until we are quite full! On the other hand sometimes we don't want to pee until we finish the phone call or unload the groceries, so we just cannot stand it if the ability to hold the urine for more than moments after the signal that you may have to go occurs, Sometimes the physiologic adaptations that allow us to work around our busy lives can work a bit against us. WE have a bladder that holds our urine and a urethra that is the tube that funnels the urine out of our system. The bladder and the urethra are coordinated, but in a funny sort of discordant way! We are designed to hold that urine in and at the time the urethra will contract the bladder will actually, paradoxica...