What Causes Pyelonephritis? Any Treatment or Home Remedy?

Kidney Infection Symptom And Urinary Tract Infection In Women - Pyelonephritis UTI

A kidney infection is an advanced stage of a urinary tract infection and is a condition that is called pyelonephritis. In all honestly, considering the organ in question, you will need to be in the hospital for treating this condition before it gets worse. An infection of the kidneys is quite rare because urine in itself is an extremely sterile liquid and the flow of urine downwards from the kidney usually stalls the progress of most bacteria that could have already caused another condition called cystitis – an infection of the urinary bladder. Urinary tract infections (UTI)  are actually quite common in women because the length of their urethera is much shorter than in men. The most common agents of urinary tract infections are the E.Coli bacteria which can end up in the area from the anal region.

Causes of Kidney Infection

When these bacteria find their way into the bladder, they are usually unable to get a foot hold here. This is because there is no way that the can stick to the walls of the bladder. This is because of a coating of material on the epithelial layer of the urinary bladder walls. Therefore, they are usually expelled with the urine. Sometimes, they are able to get a foot hold and this causes an infection called cystitis. This condition can be diagnosed by taking a urine sample and performing a urinalysis. The presence of white blood cells in the urine will usually confirm a case of cystitis. This has to then be treated immediately with antibiotics and will usually resolve quite fast after that. Things can however go wrong when there is a reflux of urine back up the urinary bladder to the kidneys. This will send the bacteria up to the kidneys where they can cause the amount of maximum damage. A case of pyelonephritis is a medical emergency since you kidneys could end up shutting down.

Pyelonephritis Treatment

Treating pyelonephritis is done using a class of antibiotics called fluroquinolones. Ciprofloxacin is the weapon of choice here and will easily resolve the problem. However, it is the symptoms that will have to be dealt with. It is a good idea to not indulge in home remedies for this condition. This is because some of the home remedies can cause a load on the kidneys. Usually cranberry juice is advised during urinary tract infections, but this is usually when one is suffering from cystitis and not during pyelonephritis.