UTI, or urinary tract infection, is common when bacteria from the skin or rectum enter the urethra and thus infect the urinary tract. This disease is so common that about 10 in 25 women and 3 in 25 men would experience this.
Every day, more and more scientists are coming up with new information about medicine, the body, diseases, and infections like UTIs. Thanks to scientists worldwide that share their knowledge with the world, we, as ordinary citizens, can take necessary precautions to avoid developing this disease, no matter how common.
E. Coli From Meat Causes UTI
Scientists warn that there could be a rise in fatal bloodstream illnesses due to urinary tract infections. Their research shows a link to food-borne bacteria, which as E. coli, from meat. The study found that “meat bacteria” may cause half of the urinary tract infections in the United States every year.
E. Coli is a bacteria found in humans and other animals; some strains of this bacterium can cause fever and food poisoning. This bacteria is transmitted to humans when they consume contaminated food, e.g., raw milk, raw or undercooked meat products, raw vegetables, and sports.
Furthermore, it gets on the meat while the cattle are slaughtered and processed. It’s why meat shops and farms have to be clean and thoroughly inspected since the E.coli bacteria can get on the meat’s intestines and feces and the surface of the meat. It can happen for healthy animals and meat sources like goats, deer, elk, sheep, and cattle.
As the individual consumes meat with E. Coli in it, the strain of E. Coli would cause a UTI in their gut. Thus, this meat bacteria would travel down to the anus, to the urinary tract to cause an infection. The scientists also found that the bladder could act as the gateway to the bloodstream for the E. Coli bacteria via the kidneys. When this happens, the risks and consequences are far more significant.
Furthermore, they warn their readers that E. Coli UTI, that’s initially resistant to some antibiotic treatments, has become more resistant to more antibiotics. As a result, treating E. Coli bloodstream infections could be a challenge. It’s recommended that patients take their prescribed medications as instructed by their physicians.
The common medications on the market today are Macrobid, which is effective for urinary tract infections and stopping bacteria growth. Today, the Macrobid tablet price is $6.36 per unit.
Other than the alarming number of UTIs infected by the “meat bacteria,” the study also found further evidence that women are more susceptible than men to developing urinary tract infections. In fact, a study conducted by the BSAC or the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy found that half of all the women in the UK would develop UTI at least once in their lifetime.
The scientists of this team conducted their experiment in a local US town in Flagstaff, Arizona, where they spent a year comparing the UTI-causing E. Coli in patients in the local hospital to the E. Coli they found in turkey, pork, and chicken products sold in the area. They chose the meats in the surrounding area because they’ve been identified as carriers of the E. coli that causes bacteria.
The Flagstaff study showed that 8% of the UTIs manifested in patients due to the E. Coli bacteria from the local meat samples. It translates to a national figure of 480,00 to 640,000 UTIs in the United States caused by meat bacteria or E. coli.
UTI Can Change DNA
A research team, Hultgren, and his colleagues conducted an experiment where they put together infected mice with E. Coli to give them UTI and to look at their epithelial cells. Just like how humans cure their UTIs, the vices are given antibiotics to cure the infection.
The results showed that some of the vices became more susceptible to reinfection of the UTI while others weren’t. They conducted another experiment on those vices that became more susceptible to reinfection and looked at the cells from their urinary tracts. They grew them and compared their stem cells to the mice that didn’t become sensitive to reinfection.
They found that the cells from mice sensitive to recurrent UTIs had a smaller cell size and defects. The cells looked different under a microscope, and with DNA sequencing, they found that the DNA had been changed due to the initial infection of UTI.
These changes were known as epigenetic medications. It’s markers placed into the DNA that create a significant change inside the cells. It isn’t changing the DNA sequence per se but changing how the DNA is read.
Final Thoughts
UTI is quite common around the world. Thankfully, pharmaceuticals in the top countries continuously research and try to develop new ways to cure the disease and fast. In addition to scientists learning more about where and how we develop this infection, the medical community has made it their goal to improve the quality of life in all parts of the world and lessen the healthcare costs you may have to spend on UTIs.
