Kidney infections - description

The main components of the urinary tract are kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra.
Any part of the urinary system may become infected and this is generally referred to as urinary tract infection (UTI).
- Lower urinary tract infection involves the urethra, the bladder, and, in men, the prostate gland.
- Upper urinary tract infection refers to infection of the kidneys.
- Infection of the kidneys is also known as pyelonephritis.

When bacteria get into the bladder or kidney and multiply in the urine, they cause a UTI. The most common type of UTI is a bladder infection which is also often called cystitis.

Another kind of UTI is a kidney infection, known as pyelonephritis, and is much more serious.
Although they cause discomfort, urinary tract infections can usually be quickly and easily treated with a short course of antibiotics.
Two of the most common kidney disorders due to infections are glomerulonephritis and bacterial pyelonephritis (pyelos means pelvis of the kidney)

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Kidney infections symptoms treatment
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Description of Kidney Infection

Glomerulonephritis
Acute glomerulonephritis is an inflammatory disease involving the renal glomeruli of both kidneys. It is thought to involve antigen-antibody reaction which produces damage to the glomerular capillaries.Chronic glomerulonephritis is a slowly progressive disease characterized by inflammation of the glomeruli, which results in sclerosis, scarring and, eventually, renal failure. This disorder usually develops insidiously and without symptoms, often over many years.

Pyelonephritis
Pyelonephritis is an inflammation of one or both kidneys with variable manifestations. It may be acute, relapsing or chronic. The complications of this disorder are hypertension, chronic infection, renal insufficiency and renal failure. The course is extremely variable but typically the chronic disease progresses extremely slowly, with patients having adequate renal function for more than 20 years after onset.
Most cases of this condition are caused by bacterial infection.