Study Confirms Popular Wisdom on Causes of Urinary Infections

Confirming generations of popular wisdom, a major study has found that frequent sexual intercourse and spermicides increase the risk of urinary tract infections in women. The research also estimates that such infections occur in sexually active young women about once every two years.

The study found that the more frequently young women have intercourse, the more likely they are to get the infections. And using a combination of diaphragm and spermicide increases the risk considerably compared to other kinds of birth control.

The report, by University of Washington researchers and published in the Aug. 15 New England Journal of Medicine, cast doubt on one common bit of advice, however: It found no evidence that urinating after sex cuts down the risk of infection. Some think drinking cranberry juice lowers the risk. While this seems to work in elderly women, it has not been tested in younger women.