Medical information for patients

Cystitis

Cystitis is inflammation of the bladder. Usually we use this term to mean an infection causing inflammation of the bladder. This is an annoying and irritating condition which most commonly affects women, but can affect all age groups from either sex.

Symptoms

The main symptoms are:

Causes

Diagnosis

Most often this can be based on the story alone. If there is doubt, then a urine specimen can be examined by the doctor using a testing dip-stick, or by a laboratory using a microscope, special stains to show up bacteria, and trying to grow (culture) any bacteria that may be there. Growing the bacteria allows us to test to find which antibiotic will best eradicate them.

Your doctor may well wish to organise further tests to rule out any possible underlying cause for urinary infection, either after one attack in a male or multiple attacks in a female. This may involve ultrasound scans, X-Ray of the kidneys and bladder using a dye injected into the blood vessels (intravenous urography), or looking into the bladder using an endoscope (cystoscopy).

Treatment

Prevention

Further information

Books

The Patients Encyclopaedia of Cystitis, Sexual Cystitis and Interstitial Cystitis, by Angela Kilmartin
From a sufferer who has thoroughly researched the topic. Recommended reading, as well as various other titles by the same author.

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