It is well-known that urinary tract infections are treated with antibiotics which are almost immediately diminishing all the symptoms related to these conditions. However, as antibiotics overuse has been linked to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, every person should think twice before opting for such a treatment. A recent study showed that ibuprofen may ease urinary tract infections symptoms in women but not the infection.
The results, which have been recently reported in the PLOS Medicine journal and cited by Advocator, indicates that simple urinary tract infections symptoms can be successfully eased up with ibuprofen in a first phase, after which antibiotic treatment is needed.
This study also shows the importance of using alternative treatments for uncomplicated conditions instead of regular antibiotics which are known to be overused by people, a fact that led to the development of superbugs which are nothing more than bacteria that developed resistance to antibiotics.
Ibuprofen may ease urinary tract infections symptoms in women but not the infection itself
The study, conducted by scientists from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, was conducted between April 2013 and June 2016 on more than 380 women who suffered from cystitis and came as a response to a 2010 German study that concluded that ibuprofen can successfully cure urinary infections.
In this new research, randomly, the scientists administered ibuprofen to one part of the participants, while the second part of them was treated with a regular antibiotic which is prescribed in Scandinavia against urinary tract infections, namely, Pivmecillinam.
The outcomes showed that 46% of the ibuprofen-treated patients returned within 1 month with either new or more severe symptoms. Out of the 46% that returned to doctors, 6.6% had febrile urinary tract infections, while 3.9% were diagnosed with pyelonephritis (severe kidney infection).
On the other hand, only 10% of the women who received antibiotic treatment returned for medical advice.
The researchers concluded that even though ibuprofen supposedly cured 54% of the participants, ibuprofen caused a worsening of the symptoms in a great part of the women treated as such. Thus, an antibiotic treatment for urinary tract infections remains, for the moment, the best option.
