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Untreated UTI Infection

Millions of people are diagnosed with urinary tract infections (UTIs) each year, and UTIs are the second most common infection in the body, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Any UTI can be painful and annoying. Left untreated, a UTI can become a serious and ultimately life-threatening problem if the infection spreads to your kidneys, according to the Penn State College of Medicine. You should know the causes, symptoms and potential complications of urinary tract infections.

  1. Urinary Tract Infections

    • Your urinary tract is the system that collects, stores and eliminates urine from your body. The system includes your kidneys, bladder and urethra, which is the tube that carries urine from your bladder out of your body when you urinate. UTIs can occur in any part of the system, but are most common in the bladder and urethra. The most common cause of urinary tract infections is bacteria from your own body. "They are caused by bacteria that are normally present in your digestive system and on the skin around the rectum and vagina," according to the Penn State College of Medicine. "This bacteria can pass through the urethra and up into the bladder."

    Symptoms

    • Not everyone has symptoms during the early stages of a UTI, but as the infection progresses so will the symptoms. The most common symptoms are frequent urination, an intense urge to urinate even if there is little urine in your bladder, a burning sensation when you urinate and cloudy or bloody urine, according to the Mayo Clinic. If the infection progresses into your kidneys, symptoms include lower back pain, nausea, vomiting, high fever and chills.

    Diagnosis

    • In the early stages of a UTI, your doctor will use simple diagnostic tests like a urine dipstick or microscopic exam of your urine. If your UTI has progressed into a more serious infection, your doctor may use more advanced tests including X-rays, ultrasounds or computerized tomography (CT) scans of your bladder and kidneys, according to the NIH.

    Complications of Untreated UTI

    • Ignoring a UTI can be dangerous. An untreated urinary tract infection can cause acute or chronic kidney infections and lead to permanent kidney damage, according to the Penn State College of Medicine. Kidney damage in turn can lead to kidney failure. If your kidneys fail, they are no longer able to filter your blood and harmful wastes build up in your body, according to the NIH. The risk of complications of untreated UTIs increases for the very young and the very old. "Young children and older adults are at the greatest risk of kidney damage due to UTIs because their symptoms are often overlooked or mistaken for other conditions," according to the Mayo Clinic.

    Prevention

    • You can help prevent a urinary tract infection by following these simple steps recommended by the NIH, the Mayo Clinic and the Penn State College of Medicine. Drink six to eight glasses of water a day to flush out any bacteria that may have entered your system. Drink cranberry juice or take Vitamin C because they both increase the acid in your urine and make it harder for bacteria to grow. If you are sexually active, urinate soon after having sex. This will flush out any bacteria that entered your urethra during sex. Also, wearing cotton underwear and loose-fitting clothes will help keep the area dry and help prevent bacteria from growing.

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