Women: Drink More Water And Reduce The Risk Of UTIs

Do Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) trouble you too often? Just flush them out from your body with lots and lots of water! A new study states that drinking more water than usual can reduce risk of UTIs in women. As per the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, 40 to 60 percent women suffer from UTIs at least once in their lifetime and every one in four women suffer from it repeatedly if no precautions are taken.

"It's good to know the recommendation is valid, and that drinking water is an easy and safe way to prevent an uncomfortable and annoying infection," says the lead author, Thomas M. Hooton, Clinical Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Miami.

The new study further revealed that women tend to have a smaller urethra, the tube that connects urinary bladder with urinary meatus, than men. Therefore, bacteria travel from the rectum and vagina to the bladder making women more vulnerable to UTIs as compared to men.

Drinking more water helps by increasing the speed of flushing out the bacteria from the bladder. This reduces the concentration of bacteria in the bladder that enters the body through the vagina.

Also read: Drinking Water Is Probably The Best You Can Do First Thing In The Morning - Here's Why

"This reduces the opportunities for bacteria to attach to cells that line the urinary tract, which is necessary to cause an infection," Hooton, one of the researchers, added.

The survey was carried out over 140 healthy pre-menopausal women. It was seen that women who increased their fluid intake suffered from UTIs 1.6 times. However, those who took lesser amount of water were affected 3.1 times with UTIs.

"If a woman has recurrent UTIs and is looking for a way to reduce her risk, the evidence suggests she should increase the amount of water she drinks," Hooton added.

With inputs from IANS