Why too many women are prescribed antibiotics for UTIs they don't have

A recent study found that many women treated for recurrent UTIs didn't have UTIs at all. Instead, their symptoms were caused by hormonally driven inflammation and pelvic floor dysfunction.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5184x3456+0+0/resize/5184x3456!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F47%2Ffb%2F0893dacc4c4ebf6ef3cc44ee8189%2Fgettyimages-629403201.jpg' alt='A recent <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jsm/article/23/3/qdag029/8495035"target="_blank" >study</a> found that many women treated for recurrent UTIs didn't have UTIs at all. Instead, their symptoms were caused by hormonally driven inflammation and pelvic floor dysfunction.'/><p>A recent <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jsm/article/23/3/qdag029/8495035"target="_blank" >study</a> found that many women treated for recurrent UTIs didn't have UTIs at all. Instead, their symptoms were caused by hormonally driven inflammation and pelvic floor dysfunction.</p><p>(Image credit: BSIP/Universal Images Group)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5947249' />