Cystitis

Cystitis describes a disorder of the bladder caused by (in most cases) E. coli bacteria from the area of the urethra (the bladder's evacuation tube). The term 'cystitis' is now more commonly heard today than 'bladder infection'.

Cystitis is a minor ailment, benign as a rule, but frustrating because it persistently returns. It is extremely common and young women are the most frequent victims (four per cent of women aged between 20 and 30 suffer from it at least once). Post-menopausal women can also be affected (since the loss of vaginal secretions tends to favour genital infections), as can pregnant women (one out of ten).

The symptoms are an urgent and repeated need to urinate, accompanied by burning, painful and stinging sensations during urination, a heavy feeling in the lower abdomen, and sometimes the passing of a little blood in the urine (known as haematuria). Two important negative signs distinguish cystitis from other bladder infections: there is no high temperature, and no pain in the lower back. A cytobacteriological urine test can confirm the presence of bacteria, and if the infection is sufficiently serious, antibiotics will be prescribed.

General advice

A better understanding of the processes that trigger or sustain the symptoms - that allow the contamination of the bladder or vagina by bacteria from the intestine - will go a long way towards improving or minimizing the infection:

• Both lack of attention to personal hygiene and (less obviously) too much of it can interfere with the balance of bacterial flora and promote infection
• Do not wear very tight clothing or synthetic underwear, which provide the closed, moist environment in which bacteria flourish
• Try to prevent or treat constipation, as it can cause a proliferation of intestinal bacteria
• Since sexual intercourse can help transmit bacteria from the vagina or anus to the bladder and thus trigger an infection, make it a practice to empty your bladder after sexual relations
• At the first sign of symptoms, make sure you drink a litre and a half of water each day in order to dilute your urine Use drinking bottles so you know how much liquid you are getting
• Pass urine often - even if this is painful during periods of infection

Essential dietary advice

• Avoid alcoholic drinks for the period of the infection
• Avoid very strongly brewed coffee and tea
• Do not eat asparagus, watercress, or tomatoes
• Eat plenty of foods containing vitamin C, which is mainly concentrated in citrus fruits (lemons, oranges, and grapefruit), green vegetables such as celery, sorrel. ,rsley, and green cabbage ++). and iits such as blackcurrants ++ and kiwi fruit++ as well as strawberries, raspberries, and redcurrants
• Supplement your diet with vegetables(such as garlic and onions) and herbs (thyme, cinnamon, mint, and oregano) known for their effectiveness against infections.
  Also take a tonic such as ginger or bee pollen. This second item can be obtained from your herbalist or health food shop, either in capsule form or in bulk from glass jars. To prepare it, put one teaspoon of pollen in half a glass water before you go to bed, cover and leave overnight. Drink the mixture next morning with breakfast.

Bee pollen

This looks like a fine yellow-orange dust, made up of the thousands of miroscopic specks which are the male flower seed normally picked up by certain bees as they search for nectar. In the hive it is mixed with honey and used to nourish the bee larvae, which is why popular wisdom has always attributed life-giving properties to the pollen. indeed, it does contain numerous minerals (copper, iron, magnesium, potassium and silica), amino acids (glutamine and methionine), vitamins A, B, C,and E, as well as superoxide dismutase, a substance that fights the formation, of free radicals.

Oligotherapy

Copper or a combination of copper, gold, and silver for their anti-infective properties.

Magnesium for its role in relieving the feeling of heaviness in the lower pelvis.

Trace elements usually come from the diet, which should be varied and of high quality. In cases of deficiency, they can be given as a medicinal supplement.

Dietary sources of copper

This element is found in small quantities in almost all foods, except in milk which contains almost none. The highest concentrations of copper come from (calf and sheep's) liver ++, seaweed, shellfish such as scallops and oysters, lobster, fish roe, almonds, avocados, cocoa, cereals (whole wheat and whole­grain rice), mushrooms, dried fruits, green vegetables, walnuts, plums, soya beans, and tea.

Dietary sources of magnesium

Magnesium is found in almost all foods, but principally in calorie rich ones, unfortunately. The best sources are citrus fruits, bananas, whole-grain cereals (oat flakes or bran), cocoa and chocolate, shellfish (winkles, shrimps, oysters, and clams) and oily fish, snails, figs, hard cheese, nuts (almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts, and walnuts). vegetables such as spinach, green and dried beans, maize, split peas, and soya beans, as well as whole-grain bread.

• Copper and magnesium treatments: these are available in various brands and formats, such as Organic Minerals (Colloidals) which contains 70+ trace minerals:
  - Available in 946ml bottles
  - Take 1-3 caps just before breakfast and/or evening meal
  - Children 1 teaspoon daily for each 20lbs of body weight

Or Maximol (Ionised colloidals):

- Available in 500ml bottles
- Take 1/2 capful once or twice daily on an empty stomach

Homeopathy

Cantharis, Formica rufa

- Four 5c tablets of each of these remedies to be sucked slowly every ten minutes, reducing the frequency once the symptoms improve.

Cantharis

- Animal origin: the whole green blister beetle or Spanish fly is used
- The homeopathic remedy for any burning pain
- Also a remedy for conditions with itching, burning vesicles or blisters (rashes or shingles, for example)

The blister beetle or Spanish fly secretes an irritating, toxic substance used in the past for 'love potions' as an aphrodisiac.

Formica rofa

- Animal origin: the red ant

- The homeopathic remedy for cloudy, foul-smelling urine

• You could also try Lehning@ Juniperus Complex 6, whose ingredients include Belladonna 3x and Cantharis8x:
  - Sold in 30ml bottles of oral drops
  - Fifteen drops to be taken in a little water, three times a day

In order to ward off further occurrences of the infection, Colibacillinum (a treatment made from a sterilized, diluted E. coli culture) is often prescribed
- Six 7c tablets to be taken once a week for several months

• It is also essential to determine the constitutional remedy that will get at the root of the problem, but this requires an in-depth consultation with a professional homeopath and is not a matter for self-treatment

Herbal Remedis

wild lime sapwood, which helps pain and inflammation.

Blueberry is effective against the E. coli bacterium.

- Either drink a cup of herbal tea (tisane) or a decoction of lime sapwood twice a day, or ask your herbalist to make up a 30ml bottle of mother tincture of blueberry, and take 40 drops of this in a little water twice a day for a fortnight

Lime sapwood

Lime sapwood comes principally from the Roussillon area of the south of France. Sapwood is the trunk's second, living, layer of bark, below the outer bark.It contains many active principles, which make it a useful remedy, particularly for its draining action.

Blueberry

Whilst the fresh berries are a laxative, the dried fruits have a more constipating and anti-infective effect, and the leaves are good for cystitis.

You could also try Solgar@ Blueberry Leaf Extract, each capsule provides 100mg of standardized Blueberry Leaf extract:
-Available in containers of 60 vegicaps
-one or two vegicaps daily with meals

Plant essential oils

Oregano and mountain savory

Add one drop of essential oil of Spanish oregano and one drop of essential oil of mountain savory to an infusion of thyme mixed with one spoonful of honey. Take after lunch and dinner.

Oregano

Still sometimes called wild marjoram, this hardy mountain plant also acts to soothe the nervous system. The ancient Greeks and Romans used to place it or plant it near tombs in order to bring peace to departed souls.