Many chronic lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) may actually be associated with undetected chronic infections [1]. Testing is still based on the assumption that the bladder is sterile (and it’s not!) – I have written about the problems with gold standard urine testing in the past.
Today I would like to give you a list of some alternatives to standard urine testing.
When speaking about urinary tract infections, we usually speak about bacterial infections. Fungi (a.k.a yeasts or mold) are different organisms from bacteria and they can cause infections such as thrush in some parts of the body. Fungal infections in the vagina for example are a well-known condition. But can there also be fungal infections in the urinary tract?
The current gold-standard testing for UTIs involves culturing the bacteria present in a clean-catch midstream urine sample (MSU) in a lab dish.
On top of that, a dipstick test is often used to indicate the presence of infection markers in urine.
The guidelines for these testing methods have been established in the 1950s. With the discovery of the urinary microbiome, inadequacies of this method have come to light.
It turns out that urine is in fact not sterile and that many microbial species cannot be cultured in a lab.
Therefore, current testing for UTIs fails patients by missing infections.
When cystitis flares up, it is important to get your urine tested for bacteria as this helps you to determine a) if it is really bacterial cystitis you’re suffering from and b) what type of bacteria are present. In this article I’m going to describe how to collect a urine sample.