Hello doctor, My mother is 86 years old. She is in relatively good health but is prone to a bladder infection. She does not feel pain when infected, so it gets bad before weakness and other symptoms tip us off. She just got out of the hospital with the latest bout. I am thinking that we could take a two-prong approach to prevent this in the future: a good cranberry (or other) supplement for preventative health and a daily urine dip-stick to check for infection.
Hi. Females are more prone to urinary tract infection due to the proximity of the anal orifice to the urethral orifice. However, post-menopause, this increases due to increased cornification of the vulva, which allows more easier access for the pathogen to form colonies. Added to this, the old age has poor elasticity of urinary bladder resulting in poor emptying of the bladder, which again contributes to infection. These are the real reasons for infection in your mother. I agree with you that you can start cranberry as a preventive measure. Along with this, if you can start low dose antibiotic, for which the pathogen is sensitive as the prophylaxis, which can prevent infection. For this, I need to know the urine culture profile. If you can update that, I shall be able to tell you the antibiotic as well. Please get back to me with culture profile.