How do you get a UTI Infection | How To Prevent

UTI often referred as short form of Urinary Tract Infection, is more common in females compared to males. Usually the bacteria named E.coli is attributed for this infection. But how does this bacteria reach the urinary tract and infects it, is a common question asked by several patients of this medical condition. Those who have faced it know how it feels during infection when you can't even urinate properly and the pain and blood in urine even makes you cry. The very first question of patients is to know how they can prevent themselves from UTI Infection in future and how do you get a UTI infection. Most of the people think that it comes through food, which is not true.

How do you get a UTI Infection ?

E.coli is the bacteria responsible for UTI (Urinary Tract Infection). This bacteria resides in our gut and helps in digestion of food. So it is not necessary for it to come from anywhere else. It can sometimes travel with digested food and may come out in stool and traces of this bacteria can travel through outer skin to the urinary tract. It starts showing symptoms when it has reached urinary bladder. Females are more prone to UTI due to shorter urethra which makes it easier for bacteria to reach urinary bladder.

How you get UTI Infection is necessary to understand because it is itself enough to tell you how you can save yourself from this medical condition. Here we are providing some tips to save yourself from a UTI infection and females need to implement those tips with more caution. Even if you have recovered from a UTI infection, you must know that this infection can reoccur if you don't take proper precautions.

How to prevent yourself from a UTI Infection ?

• Better Hygiene: It is the most important thing to take care of. Especially if you share your bathroom or toilet with other people. Proper cleaning of these places is necessary. After usage the toilet seat should be properly washed using jet, so that no traces of bacteria remains on it. Even bacteria left by someone else may infect you if you use the same unclean toilet seat. You should wipe from front to back so that you don't take bacteria from stool to urethra unintentionally. 
• Bath Properly: Proper bathing and cleaning of your genitals is necessary, so that even if bacteria is trying to travel through outer skin, then it can be washed off.
• Drink plenty of water: Drinking plenty of water is the last step to save yourself from UTI infection. If you are lucky then the bacteria might get washed away from urinary tract with urine flow.
• During Intimacy: Unhygienic ways of getting intimate can also shift the bacteria directly from intestine to opening of urethra, which can cause UTI in both males and females. To remain on safer side both partners should wash themselves before getting intimate and also urinate soon after everything is done. Urination can washout any possible transmission of bacteria.
• Clothes: Some doctors recommend to wear cotton underwears and not wearing tight clothes that can trap the bacteria near urethra. However these recommendations are not supported by any scientific studies.

If you feel symptoms of UTI then you must get medical care, as untreated UTI can affect kidneys and may cause severe sepsis and then septic shock. It can be a life threatening condition, so treatment is must for UTI.

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Gadgets meant for Women Health

Bad health of mother can cause childhood health complications which can sometimes even impact when the kid become an adult. Women health is more important because they are the basic creators of next generation and their bad health can show results in complete next generation irrespective of the kid being a baby boy or girl. Women health is being given more priority from past some decades. Today a number of scientific studies are being conducted which are primary objected around women health. Today as the technology is increasing, a number of new gadgets are invented which are primarily made for women. Some of these gadgets might be new for some of you.

Gadgets meant for Women Health

Fitbit Versa This fitness tracking device can also monitor progress of female fertility cycle along with all other tasks like measuring heartbeat, foot steps and calorie count. It can show you notification 2 days before your next predicted period start date, so you can prepare accordingly. It also analyzes your sleep pattern and impact of your fertility cycle on your health. See Price

Elvie Pelvic Floor Trainer If you want to make your pelvic muscles stronger, which is a need of more than 30% women around the world, the this gadget is meant for you. This device actually goes inside while being wireless connected to your smartphone. Then your smartphone helps you is exercising your pelvic muscles muscles and the Elvie measures the pressure put by you and thus measures your exercise impact. It keeps a record of your muscle training and show you the improvements. It is meant to be used with good hygiene. See Price

Elvie Pump This next generation breast pump is new in market and useful for new working mothers. This breast pump can be worn under the clothes and does the pumping very quietly. The milk is filled in a reusable BPA-free container which can be stored in a storage of your choice, so that the milk can be fed to your young-one. The parts of Elvie pump are dishwasher safe and it gives freedom to women from breast feeding, especially when they can't due to a job. See Price

Innovo Shorts These shorts can prevent you from urine leak problem (that occur due to sneezing, coughing, running and jumping) in 1 in 3 women due to weak pelvic muscles. These shorts need to work for five 30-minute sessions in a week to exercise and stimulate your pelvic muscles. The results of these shorts are proven good. These shorts contain conductive panels to stimulate your pelvic muscles.

Personal Vibrators Massagers Yes these gadgets can also be considered as a health gadget as they keep your muscles toned and give you good pleasure to keep your mood good. See Price of different types of these personal gadgets.

Bellabeat Leaf This fitness tracker looks like a necklace clip that can also be worn. It tracks your sleep, breathing, menstrual cycle and heart rate. It can be connected to your smartphone via an app and then help in keep all stats in one place that you can look at. See Price

L'Oréal My UV Patch This UV patch created by world famous beauty product company L'Oréal, is as small that it can be worn on your nail or sides of your sunglasses and it monitors the UV radiation level to tell you that its time to wear a sunscreen to protect you from harmful rays.

These gadgets are basically meant for women and some more gadgets will be added on this page. Some smart-bra are in development which will help women in their exercising schedule. Keep visiting betterhealthfacts.com for more updates.

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Does Birth Control Pills make Periods Easier

Painful periods are really a problem for those girls / women who need to go to school, college or office. However cramping or bloating is normal in periods but if it is affecting your daily routine of going to school, college or work and occurs badly every month then you should take it seriously and visit some specialist to treat it.

What causes pain during periods ?

There are several different causes of pain during periods and each cause has got its own treatment.

• Adenomyosis : It is a condition when cells of lining of uterus grow into muscles of uterus and cause pain.
• Endometriosis : In this condition the cells of lining of uterus grow into some other nearby organs.
• Fibroids: Fibroids are some noncancerous growths in the muscular or inner region of uterus. If they are larger in size then they can make periods painful and make it last for a week.
• Prostaglandins: This lipid is produced by our body at sites of tissue damage or infection, where it causes inflammation, pain and fever as part of the healing process. Its overproduction in uterus during periods can make it more painful.

The Solutions to make periods easier

Painkillers: Pain killers like ibuprofen can help in managing the pain. If your periods are regular then you may start taking pain killer a day before it starts, else you may wait for symptoms.
Hormonal Birth Control: Hormonal birth control methods such as IUD, implant, shot, pill, patch, and ring can make periods easier. They do so by making lining of the uterus thinner. The lesser tissue are there to shed, the lesser painful periods. For some women implant and shot can make periods last longer but the pain will be reduced.

Do you know that continuous usage of birth control for several months can make you totally period free for months to years. Fewer periods means lesser pain.

Is it safe to take Birth Control for years ?
As per our research it is safe, but still we suggest you to visit a specialist before taking your decision.

How does Hormonal Birth Control helps in easing periods ?
Usually a women's body go through a number of hormonal ups and downs during a month. These normal hormonal changes makes the uterine lining to thicken and egg maturation. But hormonal birth controls alters the ups and downs of hormone levels and tries to keep them at a steady level throughout the month. It don't let the thickening of uterine lining and pauses egg maturation. These changes eases the periods or totally stops them after few months of continuous usage of hormonal birth control. According to some recent researches it is not necessary for a women to go through periods every month.

Do you know that Oral Contraceptives reduces the risk of developing ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, and colon cancer.

Can a women get pregnant easily after stopping birth control ?
Yes, As soon as you stop taking your birth control the cycle returns to normal and your chances of conceiving become totally normal.

Is it Safe ?

The birth control pills are being used since 1960 and a number of researches have been done on it since them. They are more than safe. If they have not been safe, then human rights and women rights organisations would have sued the pharma companies for playing with lives of women.

While researching on this topic of making periods less painful, we came across an instance where a high school girl was prescribed birth control pills to make periods lighter and it really helped that girl.

Note: We would suggest you to visit a specialist before taking a decision about birth control pills. A little consultation will help you in taking a better decision.

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Do Deodorants cause Breast Cancer

A very interesting fact about most of the breast cancer cases is that most of the cancerous tumors are found in left upper / outer breast region (in both men and women). Most of the right handed people (which are majority), spray deodorants and antiperspirants on that region primarily and then other parts of body. It is enough to explain the seriousness of this issue.

People often due deodorants to get rid of body odor. Newer deodorants guarantee that they will keep your body odor null for a complete day. They do it by using certain chemicals that either make you sweat less or by killing the good bacteria on your skin which makes your sweat smell more. Such products are usually released in market after doing some short term researches which show that these products are safe for normal usage. Researches are going on to know the actual effect of these deodorants / chemical after long term usage. Some recent researches have shown some interesting results which can make the whole world think twice before using any deodorant in market.

 Before we go further, you must know about the type of products which are used to get rid of body odor.

• Perfumes were just to put on clothes to override your body odor.
• Deodorants mask the smell with a fragrance
• Probiotic deodorant promote certain bacterial colonies which can make you smell better.
• Antiperspirants reduce the amount of sweat.

When we searched about this issue on internet we found a website named cancer.gov which contain some authoritative information about it. According to cancer.gov Antiperspirants contain some aluminium based compounds which temporarily plugs the sweat duct and hence the sweat flow from the skin is reduced. Some experts believe that these aluminium compounds when applied for longer duration, may cause estrogen-like hormonal imbalance in body. As current researches suggest that estrogen can promote breast cancer cell growth, so some researchers believe that aluminium compounds in antiperspirants may promote breast cancer.

But does that mean that men are on safer side ?  Read further.

Parabens are a kind a preservatives used it deodorants and antiperspirants, which can also mimic the activity like estrogen and may cause cancer. However parabens are currently not used it most of the deodorants and antiperspirants in US, but still it is being used in cosmetic, food and pharmaceutical products.

Some studies were done by examining breast cancer patients and examining their history of usage of antiperspirants and underarm deodorants and underarm shaving habit. However most of these studies don't conclude a solid result, but still more researches are going on.
Manufacturers of such products always advertise on the basis of some major researches which found them safe for use, but still consumers use their own brain sometimes.

A fact published in dailymail.co.uk made a number of consumers feel something serious about usage of deodorants and antiperspirants. Britain is one of the leading consumers of such products and number of breast cancer cases in UK has doubled from 1970. Every year 13000 women in UK die due to breast cancer, which is something serious. The cases of breast cancer has not only affected women but also men, where the cases have also doubled in past 30 years.

 It doesn't matter if researches have found something or not, but if people get fearful of something then its consumption starts decreasing gradually. Some safety guidelines like frequency of usage and amount of usage should be printed on these products to save the consumers from any possible side effects. Hormonal imbalance is one of the primary reasons behind cancerous tumors in breast, so think twice before using any such product which may or may not harm you.

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Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) Causes Symptoms and Treatment

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is commonly found in women. Men are less prone to this disease. UTI is an infection in the urinary track usually caused due to bacteria called E-Coli. Almost 90% of UTI cases are attributed to E.Coli (Escherichia coli). But from where do we get this bacteria might surprise you.

• Around 40% of women and 12% of men are affected by UTI at some point in their life.
• Only 1 -2% children face UTI and it is more serious condition in them.
• UTI is more common in women compared to men. Experts say that its due to shorter urethra in women and bacteria has to travel a shorter distance to infect a women.
• More than 7 million cases of UTI are reported in US every year.

Organs that can be affected by Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)

• Kidneys: Two small organs at waist level on both sides of spine. They extract the impurities/toxins from blood and make it clean. Thus it makes urine.
• Ureters: Two tube like structures around 10 inches long. They take urine from kidneys and fill it into bladder.
• Bladder: Its is a sac like structure. When urine get filled in it up to a certain level, then we feel an urge to pee.
• Urethra: It is the duct that leads urine from bladder to outside the body. Its shorter in women compared to men.

Symptoms of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)

Symptoms of UTI depends on which part of urinary track is infected.
If the infection is in the upper organs i.e. kidneys and ureters then symptoms are:

• fever
• chills
• nausea
• vomiting

If infection is in lower organs i.e. bladder and urethra then symptoms are:

• Pain while urinating
• Burning sensation during urination
• Frequent urination with less amount of urine
• feeling to urinate urgently
• blood in urine
• mild fever

What causes Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) ?

As we told in the beginning that E.Coli (Escherichia coli) bacteria is responsible for almost 90% cases of UTI. This bacteria normally resides in our digestive system around colon (large intestine) and anus. In some cases it can easily travel from these locations into urethra. Shorter urethra of women makes then more prone to UTI infection. At the beginning of infection you may try to flush out the bacteria by frequent urination by drinking more water, but if the bacteria are more in count then they can still travel to bladder. Further the infection can spread over ureters and kidney which can become a serious problem if not treated properly.

What makes you prone to Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) ?

• Being a women
• Kidney stones
• Being sexually active
• Using a diaphragm for birth control
• Using  immunosuppressant medications
• HIV
• Diabetes
• Postmenopausal women
• Enlarged prostate in men
• Patients using catheters

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) Treatment

Usually medical practitioners prescribe antibiotics to treat UTI as most of the infection are caused due to E.coli . They can also get your urine and blood examined to figure out the exact reason and place of infection in urinary tract. Depending on the symptoms pelvic examination may also be done to figure out any other reason reason of infection such as kidney stones. Urine culture may be suggested by some doctors to figure out exact bacteria and know if it is resistant to some antibiotics. A timely treatment can save you from a severe infection in upper urinary tract. So whenever you feel the symptoms of UTI, you must visit an expert within 24 hours.

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Why do Women have Higher Body Fat Percentage

Body Fat is an important factor in both men and women to live a healthy life. But as we check the standard amount of fat that should be there is body of a man and woman, we find that its 27% for women while just 15% for men. Women need more body fat percentage than men to live a healthy life. Some people believe that women have lesser muscle mass compared to men, so the body makes balance through fat. Betterhealthfacts.com did some research on internet and found that there are much more reasons that we totally ignore. You will be surprised to know why women need extra fat in body compared to men.

Why do Women have Higher Body Fat Percentage

• Out of the 27% standard body fat for women, 12% is essential fat which much be there to survive. That essential fat percentage in men is just 3%.
• Higher Fat percentage does not always mean that a man will have less fat than a woman. Fat mass of an overweight man will be always above a slim woman.
• Woman's body is considered better if it have good curves and fat solves this purpose. Fat also provides softness to the skin.
• Female hormones can easily convert fat into food.
• At some point in life women always need to nourish a fetus and then feed a baby. The fat reserve in female body is heavily used at such time.
• Breast region in females is heavier than man as fat is an important part of breasts.
• Women need fewer calories per pound of body weight due to lesser muscle mass percentage and higher body fat percentage.
• Lack of fat in the body of a women can cause hormonal imbalance and temporary absence of ovulation and therefore no periods at that time. Its a natural process to avoid pregnancy as the body is not ready to nourish the fetus.
• Obesity that comes due to pregnancy is sometimes harder to lose as women take more care of their kid and don't get enough time to look after themselves.
• Birth control pills also increase the fat and water amount in the body of a woman. Therefore a women on birth control pills should decrease her caloric intake (diet) by 10% to avoid getting excess fat.
• Women are more prone to depression which can easily result in getting obese.
• Women go through menopause at a certain age in life. Sometimes it can cause depression, which is a leading cause of obesity.

We hope that you know why women need a higher body fat percentage. Women is the key to survival, so respect them and love them. If they gain weight at a certain age then take measures to keep the weight in control without affecting their health. 

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Tips for Safely loosing weight after having a baby

The real worry of modern mothers is to be back in shape after having a health baby. They want to provide proper feeding to the baby and thereafter loose weight in a controlled manner and be back in shape, just like before. However few women find it impossible as women's body go through various hormonal and physical changes during pregnancy and its nearly impossible to be as slim as before. But a number of women has changed this thinking. They have got there previous figure in a controlled manner without making any negative effect on their own and baby's health. Here we are providing some simple tips that will help you attaining your target body shape.

Tips for Safely loosing weight after having a baby

• Never think of loosing weight just after having your baby. Loosing weight just after giving birth to a baby may affect both your and baby's health in a negative. A new mother have to feed her milk to the infant to give him/her proper nutrition. If you start loosing weight at that time then it will not affect your health but also degrade the quality of your milk, which will gradually affect the development of your baby.
• Normally doctors call for a checkup after 6 to 8 weeks after baby birth (known as Postnatal check). At that time you may ask your doctor if now you may start loosing weight. If the doctor recommends then you may start it.
• During you weight loss routine make sure that your nutrition level is sufficient for both your and baby's body.
• Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and drink plenty of fluid. You have take care of your diet in every possible way as you need to feed milk to the baby as well.
• Don't try to loose weight too fast. Its necessary to loose weight at a very slow speed. Loosing weight too fast is even harmful for a normal person. So a new mother should take this advice seriously. You may use a weighing machine at your home.
• Exercising with a healthy diet is one of the most important key to loosing weight.

Here are a few tips about your eating habits during your weight loss program. 

Make a regular habit of having breakfast. Some women stop taking breakfast to loose weight, which is a serious bad habit for your health.
As we mentioned earlier, fruits and vegetables should be an important part of your diet. Drink plent of fluids as well. It will help you in maintaining the milk level to feed your baby.
Bread, rice and pasta (preferably wholegrain varieties) should be a part of your diet.
Fatty and sugary foods should be consumed in less amount. Fast food, cakes, sweets, biscuits, pastries and fizzy drinks should also be avoided.

How to exercise ?

Some ladies find it difficult to exercise after having a baby. Most of them complain of not having sufficient time to exercise. If there is a will there is a way. If you really wish to exercise then nothing can stop you.

• You may go for a walk with your baby in a pram.
• You may exercise while playing with your baby, as shown in the image above.
• Stretching exercises are one of the best in loosing weight.
• Some women even consider doing yoga.
• There are some pram based exercises as well. You may search for them on internet to know more.

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