AUA Update - Obesity Linked to More UTI's

[icnmgrjill]

Yet another interesting factoid... not specific to IC but it is yet another reason to stay a proportionate weight, eh? - Jill

OBESITY ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER RISK FOR URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS

As body mass increases, so does a patient’s risk of urinary tract infection (UTI), according to Baltimore researchers. A new study, presented at the 104th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) assesses and stratifies this risk.

Researchers evaluated insurance claims of 95,962 subjects over a five year period (from 2002 through 2006) to identify whether obesity is associated with a UTI diagnosis. The results show that, as BMI increased, the odds of being diagnosed with a UTI increased as well. This association was strongest for morbidly obese patients.

“The effect of the obesity epidemic in the United States transcends any one medical specialty or condition,” said Anthony Y. Smith, MD, an AUA spokesman. “Patients with elevated body mass index should be vigilant about urologic health because even the most simple of urinary tract infections can be deadly if left untreated.”

Semins, M; Shore, A; Steele, K; Makary, M; Matlaga, B. The effect of increasing body mass index on urinary tract infection. J Urol, suppl. 2009: 181, 4, abstract 395.

[jen74]

I am a thin person myself and I get UTI's. I do not even have sex and am a Very clean person, but I still get them. Now my sister in law is very overweight and she has never suffered a UTI in her life. My mom was overweight and she Also never had a UTI either. I do not buy into the weight thing causing UTI's. That is just my opinion though.
Jen

[purpletomorrow]

Jen74, it didn't say obesity CAUSED urinary tract infections; it said it was ASSOCIATED with an increased number of them. They don't know why yet, it could be any number of reasons. Also, you cannot disprove an association with one counterexample.

[ICNDonna]

Unfortunately, morbidly obese people can have problems cleansing themselves. Plus the folds of flesh can keep air from reaching the perineal and rectal areas. I had a relative who weighted over 330 pounds and even though she was ambulatory, she could not bathe herself without help in reaching some parts of her body. I can understand how parts of her body would be breeding grounds for bacteria.

Donna

[icnmgrjill]

Yah... I think that Donna has the key here... that, some patients become so large that they simply can't clean themselves properly. The large folds of skin can make it very hard!

FYI... The Very Private Body Wash has done a superb job of reducing UTI's after intercourse!!! I constantly receive great reports about it.

Jill

[tigger_gal]

wow!! yes I agree Donna, would be harder. I also agree with you Jill, that is a must do, especially if you are using lubricant.

[purpletomorrow]

I think the association is far more likely to be hormonal.

Look at what we DO know; we know that the declining estrogen in the menopausal years causes changes in the PH of the vagina, which leads to more UTI's.

This is why vaginal estrogen staves off the increase in UTI's associated with menopause.

We know that obesity is also associated with hormonal changes; many obese bodies become less sensitive to the hormone insulin, for example.

That insensitivity to insulin is also correlated with PCOS.

PCOS is accompanied by an increase in androgens and a decrease in estrogen, hence the facial hair growth that plagues many PCOS patients.

Mightn't that decrease in estrogen also be correlated with an increase in UTI's?

In medicine, one has to be exquisitely careful when dealing with associations and causation or presumed causation. Relationships between symptoms are often not simple and sometimes counterintuitive.

Cheers,

Laura

[Rev214]

I'm wondering if it's related to diabetes. Obese people have a much higher rate of type 2 diabetes and people with diabetes are much more prone to urinary tract infections.