Around ten years ago, a medical myth over 150 years old was upturned: Urine is not sterile. And yet, billions of dollars per year rest on continuing to pretend that it is.
I have to say I'm surprised at the small number of comments, especially after almost a year.
I read this with great interest. I'm old as dirt now, but in the late 80s and early 90s I had recurring UTIs. I don't remember ever getting tested. But if you've never had a UTI you just don't know how all-encompassing the discomfort, even though not painful per se, can be. So my doctor would prescribe me an antibiotic. This led to several years of bouncing back-and-forth between 'bladder infections' and yeast infections. It was fairly obvious that treatment for one would set off the other.
When I told my doctor about this, he (of course it was a he) casually waved it off with a "Yeah, that happens."
Aside from the cavalier attitude which annoyed me even then, I don't really blame him; as you point out, they didn't know any better in those days and he just wanted to shut me up with a prescription. I have to say the antibiotics always granted fairly prompt relief, so I figured he knew what he was doing.
It's really good news that somebody finally may be figuring some of this out. Overuse of antibiotics has a lot more to answer for than just resistant bacterial strains. I've spent the last decade focusing on the health of my interior bugs.
Just skimmed this so far, look forward to reading the whole thing. My mother was treated so irresponsibly for UTI that some types of antibiotics no longer work for her. This scares me because as she gets older and will see more health issues, it decreases the pool of antibiotics they will be able to use for her.
I have to say I'm surprised at the small number of comments, especially after almost a year.
I read this with great interest. I'm old as dirt now, but in the late 80s and early 90s I had recurring UTIs. I don't remember ever getting tested. But if you've never had a UTI you just don't know how all-encompassing the discomfort, even though not painful per se, can be. So my doctor would prescribe me an antibiotic. This led to several years of bouncing back-and-forth between 'bladder infections' and yeast infections. It was fairly obvious that treatment for one would set off the other.
When I told my doctor about this, he (of course it was a he) casually waved it off with a "Yeah, that happens."
Aside from the cavalier attitude which annoyed me even then, I don't really blame him; as you point out, they didn't know any better in those days and he just wanted to shut me up with a prescription. I have to say the antibiotics always granted fairly prompt relief, so I figured he knew what he was doing.
It's really good news that somebody finally may be figuring some of this out. Overuse of antibiotics has a lot more to answer for than just resistant bacterial strains. I've spent the last decade focusing on the health of my interior bugs.
Just skimmed this so far, look forward to reading the whole thing. My mother was treated so irresponsibly for UTI that some types of antibiotics no longer work for her. This scares me because as she gets older and will see more health issues, it decreases the pool of antibiotics they will be able to use for her.