Tips for preventing urinary tract infections

Nearly 10 million doctor visits every year are the result of one common, unpleasant culprit: urinary tract infections (also sometimes called cystitis or bladder infection).

According to the National Kidney Foundation, urinary tract infections (UTIs) affect one in five women at least once in her lifetime. Women who have had at least one recurring UTI are much more likely to have even more. In fact, nearly 20 percent of women who have had a UTI will have another one. Of those, about 30 percent will have a third, and of those 30 percent, an estimated 80 percent will have more recurrences. Repeated UTIs may be caused by another underlying health condition.

Dr. Downs Missionary Trip

On November 8, 2014, Dr. J. Marcus Downs and his wife, Carol Lee, headed to Ecuador to participate in a medical mission trip with Medical Ministry International—the ninth time they have done so. Carol Lee is a physical therapist, and Dr. Downs is a Colorectal Surgeon. They began their service in Ecuador twelve years ago, and most of their trips have included their children, Colleen and Brian. However, this year’s trip was special, since Colleen graduated from medical school in 2013 and was having her first mission medicine experience as a physician.