Cystitis types and their causes

Sept. 21, 2010 - PRLog -- One of the most important parts of your urinary system is your bladder. Unfortunately, the bladder is also one of the most sensitive. Anything that can be considered a less than important threat to your health will affect your bladder if given the chance. For example, the most common illness developed by this particular part of your urinary system is cystitis.
   Just like any other medical term that ends with the suffix “-itis”, cystitis is an inflammatory problem. Moving past all the complicated explanation about what happens physiologically, the truth of the matter is that cystitis means inflammation of the bladder. Sure, it can mean that the outer layer of the bladder has been bothered, without having any effect on the inner layers, but that still means that you suffer from cystitis.
   As a general rule, cystitis is caused by a very dangerous pathogen agent: a bacterium. In this case, the cystitis can be referred to as a urinary tract infection (UTT). It is true that only the bladder is affected by the inflammation, but that is only the beginning. If you leave this matter unattended (a fact which you will find quite difficult to do), then the infection, already perilous, could become a true hazard to your general state of health. The reason behind that is a well known fact in the medical world: there is nothing that spreads faster than a bacterial infection. Before you know it, cystitis can cause problems with your kidneys, which is a thing that should be avoided at all costs. On the website http://www.cystitissymptoms.org you can learn how to prevent from kidney problems and other complications.  
   There are exceptions to the bacterium – caused cystitis: in some cases, rare as they are, cystitis can be caused by certain drugs, radiation therapy and, even, some potential irritant agents (personal hygiene sprays are particularly dangerous to women, while the long term use of a catheter can wreak havoc on a mans’ bladder). Of course, just like any other “-itis” problem, cystitis could be just a complication of another, more serious, illness.
   In most cases, cystitis is just a painful and annoying condition, but rarely life – threatening. With the right amount of treatment and with a lot of patience, your health will take a turn for the better in no time at all.  

   Cystitis causes

   There are two types of cystitis: infectious cystitis and non – infectious cystitis. The most common one is, as it has been said before, the infectious one. Both of these forms of cystitis present with their own causes, completely different from one to the other. Read more information on cystitis types on the site http://www.cystitissymptoms.org.
   Infectious cystitis has one known and definitive cause: direct contact with a bacterium or with an infected person. For example, bacterial bladder infections affect women as a result of sexual intercourse. The trick is that even women that are sexually inactive can get cystitis because the bacterium that causes this urinary tract problem is often found on the feminine genital organs. It takes just one bout of lowered immunity for it to attack the bladder. In general, the pathogen bacterium is Escherichia coli, which is normally found in the genital area. Unfortunately, E. coli has proven itself to be extremely hard to treat in recent years due to its increased resistance to classical antibiotics. This is why, before any physician will start treating, an antibiotic – resistance test will be performed and the treatment will contain the drug that has the biggest effect on the bacterium.
   Non – infectious cystitis has different causes that depend entirely on the type of cystitis that the patient suffers from. Here are the most well known forms of non – infectious cystitis and their causes:
1.   Interstitial cystitis: also called bladder syndrome, it is usually diagnosed in women. Unfortunately, it is very hard to treat, since its true cause still eludes scientists.
2.   Drug – induced cystitis: chemotherapy drugs, like cyclophosphamide and ilosfamide, cause inflammation of the tissues that line the bladder. The fragments of drugs that leave your body through urine are so large that they leave marks on the bladder, leading to cystitis.
3.   Radiation cystitis: radiation therapy is an invasive method of cancer treatment. Its abruptness, as well as its poisonous nature, affects the tissue of the bladder, making it swell.
4.   Foreign – body cystitis: when a patient is forced to use a catheter for a long time, it is natural for the body to develop an allergic reaction to the foreign body. After a while, the bladder will see the catheter as a pathogen agent and react accordingly, swelling and sending distress signals to the brain.
5.   Chemical cystitis: this is caused by a hyper sensibility to certain chemical compounds found in everything and anything, from shampoo to shaving cream and even condoms.
Learn more about cystitis causes on http://www.cystitissymptoms.org.
Not part of the two main cystitis types, the cystitis that is associated with other illnesses simply appears as a complication to various diseases, like gynecologic cancer, pelvic inflammatory disorder, endometriosis, Chron’s diseas and lupus.