Understanding Bacteria

Antibiotics were created to clear out the bad bacteria that have gotten out of hand. Antibiotics work to gobble up bacteria and destroy them, so they won’t cause damage and inflammation. Antibiotics do work on the principle that bacteria are floating around – like dust motes in the air and can be picked off by the antibiotic.

However, recent studies have found that most bacteria can start gathering together and form a colony called a biofilm. Think of biofilm like a strawberry jam; the seeds of the jam would be the bacteria and the rest of the jam would be goop that protects the bacteria. As the biofilm grows, the outer layer becomes scarce in nutrients, and parts of it break off, allowing bacteria to spread to another area where they can begin the formation of a new biofilm.

Biofilms are found everywhere around us, in nature, at home, in the human body, and even in food. Bacteria prefer wet or humid environments, so biofilms are commonly found near water sources, e.g. the slimy stuff on shower tiles.

Biofilms are responsible for around 60 to 80% of the infections that affect the human body, particularly those associated with the use of medical devices. Biofilms can also develop in the urinary tract and be a potential root cause of repeat urinary tract infections (UTI’s).

Why UTI’s Occur

A UTI is an infection in any part of the urinary tract. This means it could be in your kidneys, bladder, ureters or urethra.

Here’s a quick brush-up on what these parts of the urinary tract do:

Your kidneys are the bean-shaped organs on either side of your spine, which play the important role of removing excess water, potassium, salt, urea and other substances from your blood as it filters through. These substances become waste products that your body expels as urine.

As the urine builds up, it’s shipped out of your kidneys to your bladder via two thin tubes (which look a bit like spaghetti) – your ureters. From your bladder, the urine leaves your body via your urethra, the final frontier of the urinary tract.

When you get a UTI, it may move through your body in stages, starting at the urethra. In this first stage, the urethra is contaminated by a pathogen. After the pathogen establishes itself, it spreads to new areas (the scientific term is to ‘colonize’), in this case upwards towards the bladder and, if untreated, then on to the kidneys.

If you keep getting UTIs, it could be due to three things:

• A recurrent UTI is officially defined as three episodes of a UTI in the previous 12 months, or two episodes within the previous 6 months.

• Reinfection, where the pathogen is eradicated by treatment, then the same or a different pathogen ascends the urinary tract to cause a new infection.

• A persistent infection is when the pathogen that caused the UTI is not completely cleared from the bladder by treatment. The pathogen remains detectable in the urine, and after treatment returns to a level that once again causes symptoms of infection. This is sometimes called ‘chronic cystitis’.

Biofilms and Recurrent UTIs

In the case of a chronic UTI, a biofilm is usually involved. A biofilm is a community of bacterial cells that stick together and attach to the bladder wall. This community can be fungal as well as bacterial, and there can easily be more than one pathogen present. The goal of the biofilm is to protect the bacteria from antibiotics and the body’s immune system!

From time to time, bacteria are released or escape from the biofilm, causing inflammation and more UTI symptoms. You might hear people talking of ‘flare ups’ or ‘episodes’ of UTI symptoms, indicating a chronic issue that cycles through acute and symptom-free phases.

The usual course of antibiotics for 5-7 days is unlikely to clear a biofilm as the antibiotic cannot penetrate the protective slimy goop. There are some herbal solutions which, when used consistently and long term, can break down the biofilm.

Herbal Help

• Apple Cider Vinegar - The acetic acid in apple cider vinegar has been shown to kill unwanted bacteria while also cutting through mature biofilms in chronic infections.
• Oil of Oregano is one of the most powerful antimicrobial agents that is used to help reduce bacterial, yeast and parasitic overgrowths and support overall immune health.
• Garlic - A compound called allicin in garlic has been shown to disrupt the bacterial “communication process” and prevent biofilm growth
• Berberine - found in Goldenseal and Oregon grape, this is a potent antimicrobial with few side effects
• Activated Charcoal - while activated charcoal isn’t directly involved in breaking up biofilms, it is a crucial step in a biofilm-breaking protocol. When a biofilm is broken a massive toxin load is unleashed. If not properly absorbed and passed through the stool, the toxic die-off can lead to flu-like symptoms. Charcoal binds to the toxins and shuttles them off to the colon.
• Proteolytic Enzymes. Enzymes are considered catalysts of biochemical processes. This simply means they assist chemical processes in the body by allowing them to occur much faster. Proteolytic enzymes assist the body in breaking down proteins and can be very effective at dissolving biofilms.

Few practitioners are familiar with treating biofilms other than with long term use of antibiotics which may not work. If you have recurrent UTIs and they do not get resolved by adding back in some estriol from Silky Peach Cream, you may want to find a naturopath or herbal medicine specialist to see if a biofilm removal strategy could be right for you.

In the meantime – avoid sugar and carbohydrates that feed bacteria and fungus, drink lots of water, and control stress so your immune system has the power it needs to fight infections.