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Aside from unexpected wetting, bladder infections are the most common urinary problem among children. According to a conservative estimate, 3 percent of girls and 1 percent of boys have had a detected urinary tract infection (UTI) by the age of 11. Recognizing and treating urinary tract infections is important as untreated bladder infections can lead to serious, life-threatening kidney problems.
Top Causes of Bladder Infection in Children
Five Symptoms of Bladder Infection in Children
PLEASE NOTE: These symptoms do not necessarily mean there is a bladder infection; they just mean there might be a bladder infection. Symptoms of More Serious Kidney InfectionOccasionally the bacteria causing a bladder infection with ascend up into the kidneys and cause a kidney infection. This can be serious, since kidney infections can scar the kidneys.Most bladder infections DO NOT turn into kidney infections, and a small scar in one kidney infection is harmless. But kidney infections are to be taken very seriously and treated promptly. Here are signs that a bladder infection has turned into a kidney infection:
Bladder Infections in Paraplegic ChildrenNeurological conditions like paraplegia, a spinal cord injury, also called spinal cord impairment (SCI), usually result in neurogenic bladder - an unstable or atomic bladder, with no muscle tone. Children with spinal cord injuries have lost, partial or complete, control over their bladder and sphincter due to the compromised nerve receptors that are responsible for:
Due to this condition, most paraplegics are exposed to the regular use of catheters and drugs. (The more traditional cap and bag, with continual drainage, is falling from favor even though it is a safer system). However, catheters often increase the risk of urinary tract injuries and repeated bladder infections - a common problem in children with spinal cord impairment. Exposed to repeated or long-term courses of antibiotics, in time, they also develop resistance to drugs what makes maintaining healthy urinary tract for them even more difficult. However, contrary to a popular belief and common medical practice, children with spinal cord injuries or spinal cord impairment:
Diagnosing a Bladder InfectionChecking a urine sample is the only way to diagnose a bladder infection, as there is usually no outward sign on the penis or vagina that indicates an infection.
Here's how to collect a "clean catch, midstream" urine sample in children:
PLEASE NOTE: It is important not to allow the first two seconds of the urine to go into the cup. This can cause contamination.
Storing the sample Types of Urine TestsI. Urinalysis (U/A)Urine tests can be done in the doctor's office or a lab; they just take a few minutes - a dipstick is placed in the urine sample and up to ten different substances can be detected. During a bladder infection, however, there are three substances that show up positive:
Depending on how strongly these substances show up, this test can be interpreted three ways:
PLEASE NOTE: Sometimes these substances can show up even when an infection is not present. II. Microscopic urinalysis (U/A micro) This test is usually only done by a lab - a drop of urine is examined under a microscope. Two things can show up in an infection:
PLEASE NOTE: If no white blood cells or bacteria are seen, then there could still be an infection. III. Urine Culture This is the most accurate test to determine for sure whether or not an infection is present. It is usually only done in a lab. The lab puts the sample in an incubator. If any bacteria are in the sample, they will multiply and show up. However, it takes 24 to 48 hours for the bacteria to grow enough to be detected. Here is how the results are interpreted:
Contamination of the Sample Interpreting a contaminated sample then poses a dilemma. If an infection is present, but the sample was also contaminated, the contaminant bacteria will overgrow and hide the one type of bacteria that is causing the infection. A decision needs to be made whether or not to treat this as an infection depending on how suspicious he is. If the urine analysis (U/A) and microscopic urinalysis (U/A micro) are positive for infection, but the culture is contaminated, it may be assumed that an infection is present. If the suspicion is low for infection, the urine culture can be repeated to double check, or you can just observe the child to see if symptoms go away.
Culture sensitivity Common Steps in the Treatment of ChildrenYou bring your child into the doctor's office for a possible bladder infection. Here are the steps that are commonly followed:Urinary analysis (U/A) is performed in the office:
A doctor may also wait a few hours for the lab to run a microscopic urinalysis ((U/A micro) to help in the decision whether or not to start treatment while the culture is running. PLEASE NOTE: Mild bladder infection can be left untreated for a few days without risking harm to your child while the culture is being done. If a urine culture is sent, you should call your doctor's office after one and two days to check the results. If positive, don't wait and call the next day again to check the sensitivity of the antibiotics. Standard Medical Treatment
Urine Culture CheckupsIt is routine to check another urine culture about two weeks after treatment to make sure the urine has cleared up.If your child has recurrent bladder infections, you should check a urine culture every one or two months to monitor for infections. If your child goes for six months without an infection, you can space out these urine checks per your doctor's advice. Preventing Bladder Infections in Children
Recurrent Bladder Infections in ChildrenSometimes, aside from having ordinary bladder infection during their childhood, children can have an anatomic abnormalities in the way the kidneys, bladder and urethra are hooked up that can cause recurrent bladder infections.There are three possible abnormalities:
Diagnosing an Anatomic AbnormalityThere are several different radiology tests that are used to look for structural problems involving the bladder and kidneys.
PLEASE NOTE: Except for the ultrasound, none of these tests sounds very fun, especially when it's YOUR child. Deciding when testing should be done is difficult. You need to weigh the likelihood that an abnormality is there and how serious such abnormalities can be versus the trouble and trauma of putting your child through such testing. Prophylactic AntibioticsFor children who have recurrent bladder infections, a daily low-dose of antibiotics is usually given to control any bacteria that may get into the bladder.Prophylactic antibiotics are appropriate - if a child
Typically children will take an antibiotic for six to twelve months,
then come off of it and monitor the urine.
D-Mannose: The Natural Alternative to AntibioticsD-mannose, a simple sugar and close cousin of glucose, can cure more than 90 percent of all bladder infections within 1 to 2 days.Even more remarkably, D-mannose accomplishes this feat without killing a single bacterium! (Exactly how does this it will be explained later). Suffice it to say that, because it gets rid of bladder infection-causing bacteria without committing "bactericide," people who use it suffer none of the unwanted side effects of antibiotics:
In fact, D-mannose has no adverse side effects of any kind.
It Tastes Good!
It Is Effective and Safe!
It Is Suitable for Children
It Is Just As Effective As Antibiotics Moreover, nearly 15 years of clinical experience have shown that it is just about as effective at curing bladder infections as antibiotic drugs.
It Has No Known Drawbacks Unlike virtually any conventional medication, and many natural or "alternative" treatments as well, D-mannose has no known drawbacks. E. Coli Bacterial InfectionsBladder infection is a bacterial infection (caused by the bacteria E. coli over 90 percent of the time) that affects the inside lining tissue of the urinary system (or tract).The urinary tract reacts to a bacterial infection in much the same way that the upper respiratory system reacts to a cold virus. The tissues become inflamed, irritated, and swollen. Just as it's hard to breathe through swollen and inflamed nasal passages, swollen and inflamed urinary ducts can partially obstruct normal flow, making it painful and difficult to pass urine.
Built-In Safeguards Bugs that do make their way into a healthy urinary tract are likely to find an inhospitable acidic environment (pH <5.5). Bugs are also subject to attack by the body's immune defenses. (Adult men have the added protection of a specific bacterial growth inhibitor squirted directly into the urinary system by their prostate gland.) Even if microorganisms manage to overcome these considerable obstacles, they would typically be flushed out with the normal flow of urine. So effective are these natural antibacterial defenses that in a study in which bacteria were instilled directly into the bladders of guinea pigs, simple urination expelled 99.9 percent of the bugs. Despite all these built-in safeguards; each year millions of people, overwhelmingly women, still develop bladder infections.
Urethritis
Cystitis
Nephritis The E. coli that cause most bladder infections are among the most common friendly bacteria in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, where they aid digestion, produce a few vitamins, and in general, behave themselves without bothering us. However, when E. coli and other bugs exit the lower GI tract, they may gain entry to the urinary tract via the urethra, where they may attach to the internal lining of the bladder, multiply, and spread.
Other Infectious Bacteria
Unlike E. coli, these bugs tend to be transmitted via sexual contact and rarely cause the more serious bladder and kidney infections. PLEASE NOTE: Chlamydia, Mycoplasma and N. gonorrhea infections do not respond to D-mannose treatment and and will probably require antibiotic treatment. Non-E. Coli Bladder InfectionsIn addition, a few bladder infections are caused by other bacteria, such as Proteus or Staphylococcus ("Staph"). In this case, a powerful and effective antibacterial agent can be used against these pathogenic microorganisms, namely Pure Essential Oil of Wild Oregano. As a matter of fact, Oregano itself is also effective against E. Coli. Still, all of these non-E. coli infections combined amount to no more than 10 percent of all bladder infections. Bladder Infection Treatment With D-MannoseConventional MedicineWhen faced with a potentially pathogenic germ like E.coli, conventional, pharmaceutically based medicine typically confronts the problem by throwing the most potent poisons it can find at the bugs - antibiotics. While there's nothing essentially wrong with killing disease-causing bacteria, this approach does have some very serious drawbacks, as we have noted earlier. Happily, "bacteria-cide" is not the only possible avenue of attack.
More Natural Way At the tip of each fimbrium is a glycoprotein (a combination carbohydrate and protein) called a lectin that is programmed to bind to the first molecule of the sugar mannose that it encounters. It turns out that molecules of mannose (produced inside urinary tract lining cells) naturally dot the surfaces of these cells. Here they act as "receptors," inviting the fimbria of E. coli to attach, and allowing them to bind to the tissue in a tight, Velcro-like grip. If not for this attachment to the cell's mannose, any E. coli that had successfully ventured up the urethral river would be unable to stick to the slippery surface and would be washed right back out on the next tide of urination. How Does D-Mannose Work?Now imagine what would happen to E. coli in the urinary tract if those sweet little mannose molecules they crave were present not just on the surface of the epithelial cells but surrounding them in the urine as well.The E. coli couldn't turn around without bumping into D-mannose "just floating around" in the urine. Unable to resist the tasty bait they suddenly find themselves swimming in, they would latch onto the nearest mannose molecules, and happily sail off into the porcelain sunset. Those few E. coli left clinging to mannose molecules on cells then become easy prey for white blood cells and other agents of the immune system.
E. Coli Coated With D-Mannose Extracted in the form of D-mannose, a white crystal sugar similar to glucose, it can be easily dissolved in a liquid and swallowed. (Mannose can also be synthesized from other simple sugars.) When someone with bladder infection consumes a dose of D-mannose, the sugar is absorbed in the upper GI tract, but at a much slower rate than most other sugars. (For example, glucose is absorbed more than eight times faster.) Moreover, unlike other sugars, D-mannose is not readily converted to glycogen (and stored) in the liver, but instead passes directly into the bloodstream largely unchanged. As the D-mannose-laden blood passes through the kidneys, a considerable proportion of the sugar is extracted and added to the urine. The D-mannose-sweetened urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters to the bladder and on to the urethra, literally sugar-coating any free-floating E. coli it might encounter, so they can't stick to cells any more. It also unsticks most of the E. coli already "Velcro-ed" to the inner surface of the bladder and urinary tract, ultimately flushing them all down the drain.
It Is Scientifically Proven Second, literally tens of thousands of women working with natural medicine doctors have successfully applied this science to their own bladder infections.
Therapeutic Value of D-Mannose
Laboratory Studies In another study, administering a mannose-like substance (niethyl a-D-mannopyranoside) to E. coli-infected mice led to a 90 percent reduction in bacterial attachment to the urinary tract. Research in humans shows that ingesting D-mannose significantly elevates blood mannose levels, a prerequisite if urinary levels are to rise.
Epidemiological Evidence
For example, in one case, a 5-year-old girl had almost continuous bladder infections for her entire life that had failed to respond to every antibiotic therapy her physicians tried (72 doctors in all!). At the end of their rope, her doctors were now considering a kidney transplant, since her kidneys were starting to fail due to years of chronic infection. Since urine culture showed her bladder infection was due to E. coli, she was started on D-mannose (1 tsp in a glass of water every 2-3 hours). Within 48 hours, her infection had vanished, and her kidneys were saved!
Recurrent Bladder Infections
Single Bladder Infections
In over 90 percent of such cases, 1 teaspoon of D-mannose every 2 to 3 hours usually clears the infection in 1 to 3 days. Try D-Mannose PLUS FirstNinety percent of the time, bladder infection is caused by E. coli and will respond to D-mannose Plus treatment with significant symptom reduction within 24 hours.PLEASE NOTE: Even though symptoms are improved within 24 hours, D-mannose Plus should be continued for 2 to 3 days after the last symptom is gone, just to "make sure."
A Word of Caution D-Mannose Powder PLUSSupplement Facts:
Serving Size: 1 Level Teaspoon (4.7 grams) Amount Per Serving:
Other Ingredients: Natural mixed berry flavor, xylitol, citric acid and sucralose. Contains no added starch, salt, wheat, gluten, corn, coloring, dairy products or preservatives. Keep container tightly closed in a cool, dry and dark place. Keep out of reach of children. Recommended IntakeDirections: Mix 1 level teastoon (4.7 grams) in 4 to 6-ounces of purified, cold water.For relief from a urinary tract infection, repeat four to five (4-5) times per day. For prevention of a urinary tract infection, drink once a day. Description: D-Mannose is a naturally occuring simple sugar, closely related to glucose. Clinical studies have demonstrated its ability to prevent E. Coli bacteria from adhering to the inner walls of the bladder, potentially reducing the incidence and severity of urinary tract infections. D-Mannose Powder Plus combines d-Mannose with Cranberry extract to enhance its effectiveness. PLEASE NOTE: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
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© 2003-2008 Remedy-Bladder-Infection.com: Urinary Bladder Infection. The Natural UTI Cure Treatment Prevention. Alternative, herbal and nutritional treatment for cystitis, urethritis, and prostatitis. Prevent and remedy urinary tract infection (UTI) in children without antibiotics. The information provided herein on bladder infection in children is a general overview on this topic and may not apply to everyone, therefore, it should not be used for diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. While reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information on bladder infection in kids, Full of Health Inc. assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from use of the bladder-prostate infection information herein. URIBIOTIC is a registered trademark of Full of Health Inc. ![]() return to previous page Remedy-Bladder-Infection.com |
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