Urinary Tract Health

By Robert Perez, MD

Women’s Health

Urinary tract infections are more common in women than in men. The most important preventive strategy is to drink at least 6 glasses of fluids per day. Cranberry juice can help even further by acidifying the urine, making it harder for germs to grow.

Urinary leakage is also very common. You don’t have to live with it! There are new medicines and surgical approaches to correct the problem.

Blood in the urine is never normal. Don’t put off seeing your doctor or urologist about it.

Painful sex, urinating too frequently, and bladder pain are symptoms of Interstitial Cystitis. Antibiotics do not help this condition, but your doctor or urologist can prescribe proper forms of treatment.

Men’s Health

Prostate cancer is the #1 cancer in men. It is recommended that all men over 50 get a rectal exam and PSA blood test every year to screen for prostate cancer. Do not wait for symptoms to appear, because by then it is usually too late to treat it successfully.

If you have erection problems, don’t be ashamed to tell your doctor. 30 million Americans have this problem, which can be treated with pills, injections, or surgical implants.

Be sure to consult your doctor if you have blood in the urine, strain to urinate, or get up more than twice during the night to urinate. These symptoms are not normal and could indicate serious problems.