Urinary infection is one of the common infective diseases, referring to the inflammation caused by the reproduction of the pathogens in the urine involving the mucous membrane or tissue of the urinary tract. It is clinically categorized into upper urinary tract infection (ureteritis and pyelitis) and lower urinary tract infection (cystitis and urethritis). Lower urinary tract infection may be present alone, while the upper urinary tract infection is often complicated with the inflammatory symptoms of the lower urinary tract, which makes it difficult to differentiate between the two clinically. Urinary infection occurs more often in women, with the ratio in man and women is 1:10. Pyelitis can be further classified into the chronic stage and the acute stage which are mostly attributive to the infection of lower urinary tract. Chronic pyelitisis is one of the major causes of chronic renal dysfunction. Continue to learn Urinary Tract Infection in TCM.
In TCM, urinary infection pertains to the categories of "lin zheng" (stranguria), "long bi" (uroschesis), "yaotong"(lumbago). It is mainly caused by invasion of dirty pathogenic factors from the urethra leading to retention of heat in the bladder, which is then transmitted from zang to fu organs; improper diet with excessive intake of greasy, sweet or pungent food leading to dysfunction of the spleen and production of damp heat which moves downward to the lower energizer; weakness of the elderly People with deficiency of kidney qi leading to failure of the urinary bladder to control urination. The diseased parts are the kidneys and bladder, while the pathogenesis is the accumulation of damp heat in the lower energizer and obstruction of qi activities in the urinary bladder. In prolonged cases, healthy qi is consumed by damp heat, resulting in deficiency of the kidney and spleen.
