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Here's how you can avoid the serious infection that brought Bill Clinton to the hospital: "If there's a symptom, don't ignore it."

2021-10-15T20:51:57.110Z


The recovery prognosis of the former president is good but this disease can be fatal. It is vital to pay attention to possible signs to act in time.


By Elizabeth Chuck -

NBC News

The urological infection that, according to a source close to Bill Clinton, forced the former president to be hospitalized, is common in older people and can be serious, medical experts explain.

But when it comes to time, the prognosis is good.

Clinton, 75, was admitted Tuesday night to a California hospital, where he receives antibiotics and fluids intravenously, his doctors said in a statement.

The former president is responding well to treatment.

Bill Clinton is still in intensive care, but out of danger, according to his spokesman

Oct. 15, 202102: 17

The initial diagnosis was

a urinary tract infection that spread

, a source close to the former president told NBC News.

Although at the moment no more details of his ailment have been released, experts who are not involved in his care pointed out that

said spread can be fatal

if it is not treated in time.

[Vicente Fernández: evolution of his condition is "slow", says the latest medical report]

"It's not uncommon. It's something we treat often when someone comes in with a urinary tract infection," said Dr. John Torres, NBC News medical correspondent.

"Especially as [people] get older, their body is not able to contain [the infection], so it moves from the urinary tract, from the bladder and kidneys, to the bloodstream," he explained.

At this point, the patient is at risk for sepsis, a dangerous overload of the immune system in response to infection, or

septic shock, when organs begin to fail

.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaves her husband's hospital in California on October 14, 2021.Damian Dovarganes / AP

Doctors need to monitor that the antibiotics are working and that the infection is controlled, added Ash Tewari, a urologist and prostate cancer specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

Doctors must also identify any previous illnesses that the patient has that may have caused the infection.

Some of the most common are

a blockage, a kidney stone or even diabetes

, Tewari listed.

Sometimes it is necessary to operate to prevent relapse.

Although urinary tract infections are common in young women, in young men they are exceptionally rare.

But

over the years, men are more likely to suffer them

because, according to experts, the probability of developing an enlarged prostate increases with age and that can interfere with the ability of the bladder to empty completely.

Former President Bill Clinton is hospitalized for an infection

Oct. 15, 202100: 24

"If you have trouble emptying [your bladder], that can increase your risk" of getting an infection, said Dr. Edward Schaeffer, chief of urology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Prevent the problem

Staying hydrated or treating an enlarged prostate with the right medications can, according to doctors, prevent infections from occurring.

[Bill Clinton publishes his first novel: "The President Has Disappeared"]

If you have unusual discomfort such as burning when urinating, pain in your lower abdomen, or you need to urinate more frequently, it is best to make an appointment with a urologist.

An infection detected early can be treated with antibiotics administered orally

.

Former President Bill Clinton at an event on January 27, 2021.Kevin D. Liles / USA TODAY Sports

Sometimes, however, the symptoms are not so obvious

, said Dr. Roger Dmochowski, a professor of urology and a surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Fatigue or general malaise may be the only signs that something is wrong.

Patients "have this global loss of energy and feel terribly unwell, so one reaches the diagnosis by analyzing a urine sample," said Dmochowski, who stressed that, as the population ages, more people go to the doctor with urological infections.

Early intervention is the best way to ensure a good outcome, Tewari insisted:

"If there is a symptom, don't ignore it

.

"

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2021-10-15

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