Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Branch Vice Superintendent Chang Hui-Lang "Hong Junpei Culture and Education Foundation" Public Welfare Lecture

(Taiwan Business Daily News) Urogenital health problems are one of the important factors affecting the healthy lifespan of humankind. On June 8, the Hong Junpei Culture and Education Foundation invited Professor Chang Hui-Lang, Vice Superintendent of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Branch, to give a lecture on "Urological Health, Happy Life." Professor Chang shared insights based on years of experience and background in medical treatment and teaching research, and the public benefited greatly.

Basically, urinary tract conditions are not serious diseases, but they are quite troublesome problems. Many people at first only feel discomfort but are too embarrassed to seek medical attention, often delaying treatment and causing symptoms to become more severe. This is because urinary tract infections can cause or affect the following problems, including: urethritis, cystitis, kidney disease, urinary tract stones, and prostatitis.

Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Branch Vice Superintendent Chang Hui-Lang Public Welfare Lecture: Drink more water and do not hold your urine to reduce urinary infections

Urinary tract infections are not a big problem, but when the infection is severe, they can easily cause related kidney lesions; especially symptoms such as urinary tract stones and difficulty urinating, which have a fairly high recurrence rate and may even develop into chronic diseases, so daily urinary system care is very important.

The structure of the male and female urogenital systems differs, and the causes of urinary diseases also differ. Urinary tract infections generally trouble men somewhat less than women. In addition to common causes such as drinking too little water and holding urine for long periods, the most common problem in men, benign prostatic hyperplasia, can also affect urinary tract health. Benign prostatic hyperplasia, also called prostate enlargement or prostate adenoma, is a common disease in middle-aged and older men that causes difficulty urinating, and is related to endocrine disorders and sex hormone imbalances; symptoms include slower and thinner urine stream, difficulty urinating, interrupted urine stream, frequent urination, blood in the urine, urgency to urinate, and even acute urinary retention.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia is a proliferation of glandular cells, like an ordinary benign tumor, and its cause may be related to hormonal imbalance. In particular, among men over 65 years old, 70% of cases have this disease, and benign prostatic hyperplasia can be called a long-life disease of men.

Typical symptoms of urinary tract infection caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia include: painful bladder distension, frequent urination, nocturia, thin and slow urination, difficulty urinating, and even inability to urinate. If you have any of these symptoms, see a doctor as soon as possible. In particular, men with diabetes are even more likely to have concurrent prostate enlargement, mainly because people with diabetes are prone to microvascular sclerosis, which progressively affects the endocrine system, and are also at risk of chronic prostatitis.

For middle-aged and older men to maintain urinary system health, in addition to having correct health care concepts, men at 50 years old should receive regular physical examinations to understand their urinary and reproductive system conditions, so as to prevent possible diseases early. If they have chronic diseases such as diabetes or hypertension, or concurrent urinary tract stones, they should likewise pay attention to urinary system care and receive regular follow-up treatment to avoid causing other kidney lesions.

Doctors advise that when suffering from prostate-related diseases, the diet should be as light as possible, avoid high-cholesterol foods, eat more vegetables and fruits, and keep the digestive tract moving. Appropriate warm water baths can reduce the phenomenon of prostate congestion.

About 25% of women will contract cystitis at least once in their lifetime, and many will even be infected multiple times. This is because the female urethral opening is only about 3 cm from the bladder (the male urethral opening is about 18-20 cm from the bladder), and the female urethral opening is also quite close to the vaginal opening. Because of this difference in physiological structure, women are more likely than men to carry bacteria into the urethra and then into the bladder, and the probability of infection is relatively increased.

In addition to drinking too little water, holding urine, and poor hygiene habits, special activities (such as sexual intercourse) or periods (such as pregnancy and menopause) can also affect women's urinary health.

80% of women experience discomfort from aging of the reproductive and urinary systems after menopause. Because menopausal women secrete less female hormones, the mucous membranes of the urinary tract and vagina become dry and fragile, and bacteria grow easily; in addition, reduced local resistance also increases the probability of vaginal and urinary infections.

Menopausal women often experience "stress urinary incontinence": for example, leaking urine when coughing or sneezing. This is not caused by urinary tract infection, but if combined with infection, it can make women very uncomfortable and affect daily life, so special attention still needs to be paid to daily urinary tract care: drink more water, do not hold urine, do not retain urine, and develop correct hygiene habits. When uncomfortable, see a urologist as soon as possible. Patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes or hypertension, or those with concurrent urinary tract stones, should pay even more attention to urinary system care and receive regular follow-up treatment to avoid causing other kidney lesions.

Frequent urgency to urinate, frequent urination, and nocturia; painful or burning urination; cloudy urine; pain in the lower back or abdomen; blood in the urine, etc., are all signs of urinary tract infection. If you find these symptoms, please see a doctor as soon as possible. If there are symptoms such as chills, fever, dizziness, and nausea, it indicates that the kidneys may already be infected and treatment must be received immediately. The two most common causes affecting urinary tract health are: drinking too little water: water can increase the frequency of urination, reduce the time bacteria stay in the bladder or urethra, and lower the probability of infection. Holding urine: modern people often, because of busy work or being unaccustomed to using public sanitary facilities, hold urine for long periods or retain urine, thereby increasing the chance of urinary tract infection.

Doctors say that under normal circumstances, daily urine output is between 1000-1500CC; if daily urine output is above 2500-3000CC, it is polyuria. For a normal person, the number of urinations per day is about 4-6 times during the day and about 0-1 times at night; if a normal person urinates more than 10 times a day, it is called frequent urination. The occurrence of polyuria or frequent urination is related to how much water a person drinks and whether there is any urinary tract-related disease. Therefore, if you do not drink much water but want to run to the toilet all day long, yet each urination volume is very small, it may be that the urinary tract is infected.

What should be done if the urinary system often has repeated infections? Doctors say that cranberry juice contains a unique condensed tannin rarely found in fruit, which can prevent bacteria from attaching to the urinary tract wall, reduce the probability of infection, and relieve discomfort. Therefore, drinking cranberry juice can strengthen the resistance of the urinary system.

Profile of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Branch Vice Superintendent Chang Hui-Lang

Professor Chang Hui-Lang, Vice Superintendent of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Branch, graduated from the Department of Medicine of Taipei Medical College and once went to the University of California, San Francisco for urology research; he has served as Director of the Division of Urology at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Branch, Director of the Department of Surgery at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Branch, and Chairman of the Taiwan Medical Informatics Association; he currently serves as Vice Superintendent of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Branch and Professor of Urology at the Chang Gung University College of Medicine; his specialties include biomedical informatics, benign prostatic hyperplasia, urinary system cancers, and research and treatment of urinary system diseases.

Hong Junpei Culture and Education Foundation 2014 (ROC year 103) Public Welfare Lecture