When urinary tract infections keep coming back

If you are prone to recurrent UTIs, you can head them off before they take hold.

Unless you’re in the fortunate minority of women who have never had a urinary tract infection (UTI), you know the symptoms well. You might feel a frequent urgency to urinate yet pass little urine when you go. Your urine might be cloudy, blood-tinged, and strong-smelling. For 25% to 30% of women who’ve had a  urinary tract infection, the infection returns within six months.

If you have repeated UTIs, you’ve experienced the toll they take on your life. However, you may take some comfort in knowing that they aren’t likely to be the result of anything you’ve done. “Recurrent UTIs aren’t due to poor hygiene or something else that women have brought on themselves. Some women are just prone to UTIs,” says infectious diseases specialist Dr. Kalpana Gupta, a lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Why some women get recurrent UTIs

The infections are usually caused by Escherichia coli, a bacterium that lives in the intestinal system. If E. coli are carried from the rectum to the vagina, they can enter the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder) and infect the bladder.

Risk factors for UTI vary with age. Before menopause, the most common risk factors are sexual intercourse and use of spermicides. It’s thought that sex increases the number of bacteria in the bladder, and many experts advise women to urinate after sex to flush them out. Spermicides may kill off Lactobacilli, beneficial bacteria in the vagina, making it easier for E. coli to move in.

After menopause, certain physical changes help set the stage for UTIs. The numbers of Lactobacilli in the vagina naturally decline. The bladder also contracts less strongly than it once did, making it more difficult to empty it completely.

In both premenopausal and postmenopausal women, genes play a role as well. Having a mother or sister who has frequent UTIs is also a risk factor.

Preventing UTIs

These approaches have some evidence to support them:

• Drink plenty of fluids every day. Aim for about 2 to 3 liters.
• Use alternative contraception that does not include a spermicide.
• Empty your bladder immediately following sexual intercourse.
• Consider vaginal estrogen therapy for post-menopausal women.
• Wipe front to back, although this has not been scientifically proven to make a difference.

Antibiotics

Taking a low dose of one of the antibiotics used to treat UTI is the most common way of dealing with recurrences. However, bacteria may become resistant to an antibiotic overtime and it may not be effective in treating subsequent infections. “This is an area in which women can experiment and find which solution works for them,” Dr. Gupta says. There are several options if you have a prescription on hand:

• taking a low dose daily for six months or longer
• using only after you have sex
• waiting until you have UTI symptoms.

If you have recurrent UTIs, talk to your clinician. The two of you can come up with a plan that is likely to be effective for you.

Image: designer491/Getty Images

Recurring UTIs: Frequent and Chronic

Sometimes urinary tract infections recur, or happen again. Find out why this happens and how recurrent infections are treated.

By Lindsey KonkelMedically Reviewed by Bhargavi Patham, MD, PhD

Reviewed: March 24, 2020

Medically Reviewed

Do UTIs keep coming back?iStock

A urinary tract infection, or UTI, occurs when harmful bacteria enter the urinary tract and cause inflammation. The urinary tract consists of your kidneys, the tubes that go from the kidneys to your bladder, and the tube that carries urine to the outside when you urinate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (1) Urine inside the urinary tract is normally sterile, but if any bacteria get in, it can cause an infection.

Urinary tract infections are the second most common type of infection that people get, notes the National Library of Medicine. (2) They account for nearly 10 million doctor visits every year in the United States, per the National Kidney Foundation. (3) When a UTI occurs more than twice in six months, or three or more times in one year, it is considered to be a recurrent urinary infection, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). (4) About 1 in 5 women will get a recurrent UTI, and women who have more than three UTIs are more likely to continue having them. (3) Men can also have recurrent UTIs, but this is not as common in men as in women. In many cases men with recurrent UTIs have some type of urinary obstruction.

RELATED: 8 Home Remedies for Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) Symptoms

What Causes Recurrent UTIs?

Bacteria can enter the urinary tract from the outside to cause a UTI to come back, or a recurrent infection can be caused by bacteria that remain in the urinary tract after a previous infection. Symptoms of recurrent UTI in men and women include the frequent urge to urinate, burning pain or pressure, cloudy or discolored urine, bloody urine, and chills and fever. (1) Children with UTIs are more likely to have fever without the other symptoms. (1) Common conditions that can lead to recurrent UTIs include: (4,5)

• Being in a nursing home or hospital
• Diabetes
• Kidney or bladder stones
• Having a catheter
• Previous urinary tract surgery
• Sexual activity
• Certain types of birth control, including use of diaphragm or spermicide
• Menopause
• Having an infected or enlarged prostate
• Being born with an abnormality of the urinary tract

Why Does My UTI Keep Coming Back?

Chronic or recurring UTIs may keep coming back due to one of the risk factors listed above. Use of spermicides for birth control, for instance, may kill off beneficial bacteria in and around the vagina, making it easier for harmful bacteria to enter the urinary tract. (4)

In some cases, what seem like recurrent UTIs may actually be another condition, such as kidney stones or interstitial cystitis, a painful bladder condition with no infection. If you think you’re getting recurrent UTIs, see your provider, who can help rule out another condition, notes ACOG. (6)

How Many Is Too Many UTIs?

Three or more UTIs in one year indicates a recurrent infection, according to the ACOG. (4)

Recurrent urinary tract infections are treated with antibiotics. A week or two after you finish the antibiotic treatment, your doctor may perform a urine test to make sure the infection is cured. (4)

Your doctor may also ask you about factors that increase the risk of a recurrent UTI, including: (4)

• Frequent sex
• A new sexual partner
• Diaphragm or spermicide use
• Young age at first UTI

How Are Chronic UTIs Treated?

If you have recurrent or chronic UTIs, your doctor may send you to a urologist who specializes in diseases of the urinary system. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, some of the ways that recurrent UTIs are evaluated and treated include: (7,8)

• Testing The doctor will want to take a urine sample to test for bacteria and white blood cells. It may be necessary to do special X-ray studies to see if there is an obstruction or stones in the urinary tract. A urologist may look into your bladder by passing a special scope through the opening into your bladder. This exam is called cystoscopy.
• Antibiotics for Treatment Normally, UTIs responds very well to antibiotics, and you may only need to take medication for a few days. For recurrent UTIs, antibiotics may be needed for 10 days or more.
• Surgery In some cases of prostate disease, stones, or other obstruction of the urinary system, surgery may be done to restore normal flow of urine and help clear up infections.
• Antibiotics for Prevention Some strategies to prevent recurrent UTIs with antibiotics include taking low-dose antibiotics for six months or taking antibiotics after sexual intercourse.
• Frequent Urine Testing Women who have recurrent UTIs may benefit from testing their urine frequently with a dipstick that warns of any bacteria in the urine.

While urinary tract infections, especially recurrent UTIs, can be a serious health problem that warrants a trip to your healthcare provider, recurrent UTIs are common and there are many effective treatments available. Some simple things you can do to help prevent UTIs include drinking lots of fluids, keeping the genital area clean, wearing cotton underwear, and wiping from front to back after a bowel movement or urination. (8)

Can Recurrent UTIs Be a Sign of Cancer?

Both UTIs and bladder cancer can cause similar symptoms, such as a frequent need to urinate and even blood in the urine, according to the University of Rochester Medical Center. (9)

According to the American Cancer Society, urinary tract infections, kidney and bladder stones, and other causes of chronic bladder irritation have been linked to bladder cancer.  (10) However, it’s not clear whether recurrent urinary or bladder infections can actually cause bladder cancer or whether they constitute a true risk factor for bladder cancer.

The biggest known risk factor for bladder cancer is smoking. (9) The risk of bladder cancer also increases with age. Most people who get bladder cancer are over the age of 55. (10)

If you think you may have chronic or recurrent UTIs, it’s best to get checked out by your doctor. Your provider can rule out other health issues, including bladder cancer, and get you the treatment you need to get rid of chronic UTIs.

Editorial Sources and Fact-Checking

1. Urinary Tract Infection. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. August 2019.
2. Urinary Tract Infections. National Library of Medicine. April 2019.
3. Urinary Tract Infections. National Kidney Foundation.
4. Urinary Tract Infections. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. February 2019.
5. Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). Mayo Clinic. January 2019.
6. Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection Prevention. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
7. How Do Health Care Professionals Diagnose a Bladder Infection? National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. March 2017.
8. How Do Health Care Professionals Treat a Bladder Infection? National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. March 2017.
9. Could Persistent UTI-like Symptoms Be Bladder Cancer? University of Rochester Medical Center. June 2015.
10. Bladder Cancer Risk Factors. American Cancer Society. January 2019.

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member of the State Commission to investigate the causes of the disaster

Moscow, August 25, 2014, 09:54 – IA Regnum. Statements by cosmonaut Alexei Leonov about the involvement of the Flight Research Institute. M.M. Gromov to the death of Yuri Gagarin and Vladimir Seregin are untenable and unreasonably harm the reputation of the LII, considers its oldest employee, former head of the institute, Professor Arseny Mironov. To a member of the State Commission for the Investigation of the Accident of the Gagarin and Seregin Crew, probably the only one still alive, 96 years. He is outraged by the one-sided coverage of the topic of Gagarin’s death in the press, and has repeatedly written about it in specialized aviation publications. And I am ready to confirm with documents: the Zhukovsky test pilot could not have been the cause of the disaster, but there were other factors that were hushed up in hot pursuit. Professor Mironov told the correspondent of news agency REGNUM about the important details of the investigation of the accident.

Recall that on June 11, 2013, Leonov told reporters that, according to some “secret commission”, on March 27, 1968 years old, an experienced Su-15 fighter, which took off from the LII Ramenskoye airfield in Zhukovsky, allegedly flew unauthorized at extremely low altitude into the flight zone where Gagarin and Seregin flew (near Kirzhach, Vladimir Region), turned on the afterburner, passed in front of their training fighter (UTI) MiG-15 and dumped it into a tailspin. Leonov added that he knew this pilot, but, pitying his poor health and advanced age, for 80 years, he would not publish his name, although he had been trying to declassify this information for 20 years.

– Arseniy Dmitrievich, who investigated the causes of the disaster and how?

– Three sub-commissions were organized in the Government Commission: flight, technical and administrative. As part of the flight subcommittee (which studied the actions of the pilot, the characteristics of the aircraft, the trajectory and flight parameters), I was the only engineer among military pilots. I had a very good assistant – Konstantin Konstantinovich Kokkinaki, test pilot of the flight base of the OKB A.I. Mikoyan. The experts were Georgy Byushgens, head of the dynamics department of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI), leading experts of the Air Force Academy. N.E. Zhukovsky, GK Research Institute of the Air Force, combat units of the Air Force, cosmonauts. I had one advantage: I wrote everything in a notebook. This was contrary to the requirements of secrecy, but since I had previously participated in many different similar commissions, I decided to write. And I saved this notebook.

When Leonov’s version was published, my patience ran out, I began to carefully restore all these notes in my memory – and restored quite a lot of interesting things.

— Why did the topic of the cause of the disaster suddenly become relevant again after 45 years ?

– Leonov has been saying for a very long time, since 1968, that a certain Zhukovsky pilot was to blame for the death of Gagarin. Moreover, its version was dynamically developed. At first it was just a pilot who took off from the Ramenskoye airfield. Later, when presenting his thoughts, Leonov began to add: “I’ll name my last name later.” Of course, his statements were not published for a very long time.

I told the whole story to experienced test pilots more than once, showed the materials of the commission. They all unanimously, without any hesitation, say: “Of course you are right!” What Leonov tells could not be.

And so, Leonov’s article appeared in the scientific and technical journal “Polyot”. The mystery of mentioning a certain LII pilot without mentioning the surname alerted me. I wrote denials to the city newspaper Zhukovskie Vesti, and to the Aviapanorama magazine, and to other popular science publications. But their audiences are narrow.

The former deputy head of the LII, Major General of Aviation Anatoly Polsky, also remembers the investigation. Somewhere in the middle of 1968 he was invited by Nikolai Sergeyevich Stroyev, deputy chairman of the Military Industrial Commission under the Council of Ministers, and explained that the cosmonauts were dissatisfied with the performances of some members of the subcommittee and wrote a letter to Brezhnev. They complained that, they say, it is impossible to denigrate the memory of the dead, they asked to sort it out and call the members of the commission to order. Polsky worked for several days in an expert group chaired by General Mishuk. By a strange coincidence, he was also the chairman of the technical subcommittee. Polsky did not see the final document of this expert group, but the meaning of it was that it evaded a clear answer and did not give any clear summary.

Polsky and I decided to write a joint article for some popular newspaper. He believed that it was not necessary to fall too hard on Leonov, since he was an authoritative person. I say: “Anatoly Afanasyevich, I have never been a general, so these fears do not bother me. You and I are pensioners – and who can cling to us? Let’s write openly what we know.” And we sent our article, as agreed, to Komsomolskaya Pravda. And that’s it, shut up! The editors respond to calls: “You know, we have Ukrainian events in the spotlight here now …”

I hope that this article will be published by the popular science magazine Wings of the Motherland. But he is short-lived. Here we are waiting, maybe something will come from Komsomolskaya Pravda. Probably won’t.

– If the cause of the accident is not known for certain, why can it be argued that Leonov’s version is untenable ?

– I received a flight sheet registration log in the LII archive. Every flight goes there. For each flight – a line: date, name of the pilot, if he flew more than one – the names of the crew members, task, take-off time, landing time. Well, and the quality of execution: done / not done. In this magazine, I opened a sheet on the day of Gagarin’s death – and found: “Su-15, pilot Bogorodsky Arkady Pavlovich, takeoff, landing, flight altitude – 18 thousand meters.” And after an hour and a half – pilot Shcherbakov, height – 14 thousand. That is, real supersonic high-altitude flights. Goals – engine testing. I built barograms (graphs of changes in altitude over time) of three aircraft: Bogorodsky, Gagarin-Seregin and Andreev – this is a pilot of the same regiment who flew the MiG-15 UTI at an altitude of 3 thousand, also to check the operation of the engines. He was supposed to take off from Chkalovsky half an hour after Gagarin and Seregin. And Shcherbakov took off already about an hour after the death of Gagarin.

Airfield Chkalovsky GK Research Institute of the Air Force in Shchelkovo. Gagarin should take off at nine, Andreev – at half past nine. Instructor Seryogin was late, so the takeoff was completed 27 minutes late. It’s not about indiscipline, he was detained by the head of the Cosmonaut Training Center. And he and Gagarin took off normally, but with an interval of only three minutes before Andreev. They have neighboring zones, the 20th and 21st. Both of them are from the same regiment – the 70th Special Fighter Aviation.

The weather was not suitable for such a flight. The purpose of the flight was to check Gagarin’s readiness to take off on a single-seat MiG-17. For such a flight, there must be either cloudless weather, or you need to fly behind the clouds. And according to the weather report and according to the information of the pilots of other aircraft, which the commission later received, the lower edge of the clouds was located at an altitude of about 600 meters, the upper one at 5000. Gagarin’s planned altitude was 4200. Andreev’s was 3000. The cloudiness was not continuous, but stratified, between layers – three hundred meters. The earth and the horizon were not visible. However, they took off.

According to calculations, it turns out that Gagarin made two turns and calmly said: “The 625th task in zone 20 has finished. I ask for permission to turn to heading 320. The flight director allowed him to return. To do this, according to the scheme of work at the airfield, Gagarin had to pass through the zone where Andreev was flying at an altitude of 3000 meters, then turn around and fly to the airfield. And these words of Gagarin were the last. As it was thought. Then it turned out that this was not so.

When the target disappeared from the radar screen, the flight director asked several times: “What is your altitude?” So, he realized that Gagarin and Seregin could get close to Andreev’s plane.

So, I built three barograms from the available data. According to the flight of Bogorodsky, only the time of takeoff and landing was known. According to Gagarin – takeoff, reaching a given altitude and the last message with a request to return. According to Andreev, there were also takeoff and climb times. What did the barograms show? When Gagarin spoke his last phrase, Bogorodsky’s plane had already landed. This is an irrefutable fact, documented. In my opinion, this is the most important proof that these planes could not get close.

Interestingly, when deciphering the radio exchange between Andreev and the earth, Gagarin and the earth, after that last phrase of Gagarin, a short phrase was recorded: “The height is two thousand.” It is not known whose, without a callsign. I superimposed its time on the barograms – and it fell right on Gagarin’s barogram. He said this at an altitude of 2000, apparently at the command of Seregin, when they were already randomly falling.

And the second interesting point. Two barograms intersect at an altitude of 3000 meters – Andreeva and Gagarin. Here they could get as close as they wanted. Whether they got close or not is unknown, but it is objectively clear that they could. It’s not like “Su-15, God knows why the pilot climbed into a foreign zone”, violating all the rules of flight work!

The next morning after the crash, I was at the crash site. It made such an impression on me that this is a common disaster of this kind. The scatter of details is small, the pit is quite deep, the cut of trees is about 50 degrees. Already there it was possible to understand what kind of regime was at the moment of impact. There was no data about when they had an accident, in what place in space and why. Black boxes were not installed then. And the technical staff did not even charge such a device as a barospeedograph. It is a drum with smoked paper tape, on which two arrows write, one for height, the other for speed. So even the remnants of paper were not there. The moment of impact on the ground was determined quite quickly and accurately by the pilots’ wristwatches and onboard watches: the clock broke, the hands stopped at about 10:30.

— Apart from the facts, what else did investigation rely on?

– In my group, there was Dr. Byushgens from TsAGI, he suggested trying to simulate this flight on computer technology. In the mathematical model, the MiG-15 UTI equation was typed. And the task was set as follows: in what modes can an airplane descend from 4200 to the ground in a minute? (This is the time from Gagarin’s last transmission to the time the clock stopped). And the answer turned out to be quite clear: either a corkscrew or a deep spiral. It was more or less recognized by everyone. Subsequently, the group of the deputy head of the Air Force Academy, Sergei Belotserkovsky, also modeled this situation, varying different variables, and the same thing happened. With a different mode, it is impossible to lower the MiG-15 UTI aircraft from a height of 4200 meters in a minute.

I dug up a manual, a flight crew manual for spin. It was written by a Tsag corkscrewer and published by the Military Publishing House. It says that the MiG-15 UTI two-seat aircraft has approximately the same characteristics as a single-seat one. This is important, because the MiG-15 UTI was not tested for a spin, the characteristics were simply transferred. It also follows from this manual that the aircraft is sensitive to errors when the controls are deflected. At speeds less than 400 km / h, even a slight deviation of the control stick in the wrong direction leads to a stall and a spin. When recovering from a spin, it is dangerous to confuse the direction of handle deflection. If the stick of an aircraft in a spin is deflected as needed to exit the spiral, the aircraft enters an even stronger spin – and practically does not come out of it. Here is such an instruction. The fact is that some pilots believe that this plane does not spin, that is, it is very difficult to drive it into a tailspin.

One can quite clearly imagine how Gagarin and Seregin pulled the plane out of a spin. In the clouds, instrument inference is nearly impossible. And only when they left the clouds at 600 meters did they begin to withdraw, as expected. These are the results of the simulation, and they are confirmed by the specialists of the Air Force Academy.

A small detail during the commission’s work. Somewhere at the fourth or fifth meeting, one of the generals of our subcommittee was instructed by the chairman to find out how the technical subcommittee assesses the state of materiel from the remnants. He reported: the technical subcommittee was ready to sign that the material part of the aircraft was in good order. No malfunctions were found on the remains, all systems and devices worked as they should, there was electricity. This is a very important statement. And at the next meeting, 3-4 days later, another general, also a member of the commission, said something like this: “Since the technical subcommittee said that the materiel is in good order, we need to look for an external cause. ”

At the same time, he kept silent about the “human factor”, due to which about 60% of air crashes occurred in those years.

One “external cause” was found by Leonov, and the second – by the Government Commission. In a very veiled form, her decision was written something like this: “The most likely cause of the incident was the appearance in the field of view of the pilots of a meteorological radiosonde, from which the pilots were forced to deviate energetically – and fell into a tailspin. It is also possible that they began to quickly deviate from entering the cloudiness. It was not supposed to talk about any errors in the organization of flight work, of which there were quite a lot (due to the “human factor”).

– Where did Leonov’s version come from?

– He gave out his version for a reason. Being in Kirzhach on jumps with his lunar group, he heard a double sonic boom. A supersonic aircraft drags a trail of sound waves behind it, which is heard on the ground in the form of a double hard pop. This is a physically obligatory phenomenon when decelerating from supersonic to subsonic speed: the plume continues to move for another tens of kilometers forward, while the pressure of the atmosphere rises abruptly, falls smoothly and is restored abruptly again. The first jump of the double impact corresponds approximately to the nose of the aircraft, the second approximately to the tail. And Leonov for some reason decided that the first bang was a sonic boom, and the second came to them, about 13 km away, at the moment the plane hit the ground.

The flights of Bogorodsky and Shcherbakov passed over the Chkalovsky airfield along the established route. Bogorodsky, flying up to Chkalovsky, was already slowing down after the task, so that later he would descend at subsonic, and released this shock wave forward, which reached Kirzhach. Leonov now says that Bogorodsky flew 25 meters from Gagarin! Where did 25 meters come from, who measured how? All these inventions are worthless and only show a lack of awareness.

– Is it necessary today to put the blame on fictitious reasons ?

– Then an unspoken command was given to the military: “Look for an external cause.” Because the real reason was internal, because of the “human factor”. And it concerns the organization of flight work.

* Late. So hurry.

* Departure in bad weather.

* Crash with missing barospeedograph.

* Seregin had a very long flight check.

According to a certain schedule, each pilot must fly regularly with an instructor and pass control modes. He had such a flight for a very long time. I personally did not find a single flight on the MiG-15 UTI at high angles and in a stall in Seregin’s flight book. And for this, both officers and generals could get burned.

* The radar altimeter at the Chkalovsky airfield did not work. The flight directors have two radars: one is a planned one, which shows where they were flying, and the second is an altimeter. Why didn’t he work? Did Seregin know that he was not working? Unknown.

* When they tried to restore the flight path using the planned locator, the military personnel who were engaged in observation presented us with such an improbable trajectory that we unanimously rejected it by the entire flight subcommittee, since it was an outright fantasy. So they weren’t watching the plane, even though they should be watching all the time. Therefore, they did not know when and where the plane went into emergency mode. They remembered when the target mark on the locator disappeared.

If all these claims were made by the military – in the 70th regiment, at the airfield and higher, right up to Kamanin (assistant air force commander for space) and Vershinin (air force commander – approx. IA REGNUM ), then all of them could lose their epaulettes, titles, and maybe go to jail. In aviation, security is always very strict. And no one looked after safety. A lot of shortcomings were immediately discovered. And their sum speaks of the ugly organization of flight work.

They often say, including even our pilots: “Well, Gagarin was poorly prepared, he flew little, rarely, which means he is also to blame.” I say: “Brothers, have you graduated from college for a long time? Do you remember the main thesis? The instructor is responsible for the safety of the flight of the pilot with the instructor. Even when learning to drive a car, if something happens, the instructor answers. On this, my colleagues gave up and agreed.

Interviewed by Olga Pushkareva

Arseniy Dmitrievich Mironov was born in 1917.

Since May 1941, after graduating from the Moscow Aviation Institute, he has been working at the LII. Chief Researcher, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor. He flew as an engineer, navigator and pilot. He served as the head of scientific departments, from 1969 to 1982 – deputy head of the LII, from 1982 to 1985 – head of the LII.

Repeatedly worked in commissions for the investigation of serious aviation accidents.

Chairman of the LII dissertation council, member of two TsAGI dissertation councils, secret and non-secret. For a number of years he headed the department of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology; more than 10 specialists defended their dissertations under his supervision.

Winner of two State Prizes (1948 and 1976). He was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner of Labor and the Badge of Honor. Honorary aircraft builder. Medals: “For Valiant Labor. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of V.I. Lenin” – 1970, “30 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War” – 1975 Honorary veteran of labor since 1987

Anatoly Afanasyevich Polsky was born in 1921.

In 1942 he graduated from the VVIA named after Professor N.E. Zhukovsky.

In 1942 – 1943 – led the air rifle service of an aviation fighter regiment on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War.

In 1943-1945, he taught at the Higher Officer School.

In 1945 – 1974 – he served in the Civil Aviation Research Institute of the Air Force, from 1959 to 1974 – head of the Department for testing special aircraft equipment.

In 1974 – 1983 – Deputy Head of the LII.

In 1983 – 1990 – Head of the Research Institute of Aviation Equipment.

Retired Air Force Major General.

Arkady Pavlovich Bogorodsky died on April 20, 1972 during a test flight.

Alexander Aleksandrovich Shcherbakov was a test pilot at the FRI from 1953 to 1986. Hero of the Soviet Union (1971). Died in 2013.

what is behind the new Toy Story?

“Toy Story” was a logically built and completed trilogy that did not require any continuation: the boy Andy matured, touchingly said goodbye to the main characters and handed them over to the new mistress. The audience also said goodbye to them – many fans of the franchise grew up on cartoons about brave toys and, together with Andy, have already moved into an adult, independent life. So Pixar’s decision to make another Toy Story was, to say the least, apprehensive. What is behind this idea: the desire to continue a popular story, give it a new breath of air, or an elementary thirst for profit, which every now and then moves major studios to create numerous sequels and remakes?

Quote from Toy Story 4. dir. Josh Cooley. 2019. USA

Cowboy Woody and Wilkins

The film opens with a touching scene in which the audience is helped to remember the events of the previous parts: Andy’s introduction to toys, the growing up of the boy, his move to college and the transfer of the team of protagonists to baby Bonnie. All this, as usual in “Toy Story”, to the song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” by Randy Newman. So we find ourselves in the room of the new mistress of toys during one of the games. And we immediately see the main change – the cowboy Woody has ceased to be his child’s favorite.

Quote from Toy Story 4. dir. Josh Cooley. 2019. USA

Forgotten toy

The whole narrative of the picture will be built on this idea in the future, which, by the way, has become noticeably darker and more mature in its own way. Woody gathers dust in the closet while his friends continue to please the child during impromptu tea parties and games of hide and seek. In addition, the old-fashioned cowboy is trying to be a leader among toys, only the advice of a rag man is no longer needed by anyone – there are more “young” and sought-after candidates in the team.

Suddenly, there is one more character in the ranks of the main characters – on the first day at school, Bonnie makes a new toy named Wilkins (Forky in the original version) out of various garbage (and this will be emphasized more than once in the picture). The funny cutlery refuses to recognize its purpose and does not plan to become some child’s personal item. The only option for his existence, he sees life in the garbage – the place where he appeared. During a family trip, Wilkins escapes, Woody goes to the rescue, and the entire toy team finds themselves embroiled in yet another adventure full of touching and funny moments.

Quote from Toy Story 4. dir. Josh Cooley. 2019. USA

Cowboy Woody and Wilkins

The first thing that the viewer will notice in the new Toy Story is the influence of modern trends. No matter how many jokes there are on the Internet about the fact that in every new film there must be a “strong and independent heroine who rescues stupid men from any troubles” (hello to all the latest films from Marvel Studios), she is here too. The role of the local Mary-Sue was taken by the cute shepherdess Bo Peep, who was left without an owner during the third film and now leads an independent life in an amusement park.

Bo is really strong, really independent, and almost every minute she’s on screen, she saves Woody from some kind of mess. At a certain point, it becomes a shame for the cowboy, who, although shown as very brave, is absolutely incapable of independent action. At the same time, Bo is a kind of cartoon “childfree” – she is categorically against children and puts her freedom and personal choice above nature.

Quote from the film “Toy Story 4”. dir. Josh Cooley. 2019. USA

Woody the cowboy and Bo Peep the shepherdess

The approach to presenting humor in the film has also changed. The jokes in “Toy Story” have always been relevant and quite “sharp”, but still kind and childish. In the new picture, the degree of what is permitted has risen significantly: now in the cartoon you can also find a hilarious fantasy about how the grandmother – the owner of the store relaxes in the bathroom with a glass of wine after a hard day, and a plush unicorn who is constantly trying to file a criminal charge against the father of the main character. At the same time, the scriptwriters are balancing on the verge of what is permitted with the dexterity of a circus artist – not one of the “adult” jokes causes rejection, and for the whole hour and a half of the timing in the hall there is Homeric laughter.

Traditionally, the humor in the film is based on bright and charismatic characters. Woody and Buzz this time faded into the background and handed over the palm to new toys: Wilkins, Canadian stuntman Duke Boobooms (voiced by actor and new Internet star Keanu Reeves) and a couple of plush blockheads Zaya and Ute. The latter frankly “pull out” most of the film’s scenes on themselves: they talk funny, act funny and fantasize very funny about what they could do. Many of the humorous scenes involving Zaya and Ooty are very much like a sketch – inserts from Family Guy (fortunately, in form, not in content). And their “plush explosion” is one of those hilarious things that audiences will remember after leaving the cinema.

Quote from Toy Story 4. dir. Josh Cooley. 2019. USA

Zaya and Utya

Separately, I would like to say about the technical implementation of the cartoon. With advances in technology, many parts of the new Toy Story (particularly the depiction of the weather) are almost indistinguishable from the real movie. The human characters have every hair and crease on their clothes drawn, and the toy characters are now noticeably different in appearance and material: the porcelain Bo-Pip and the plastic Buzz look so real that one can unconditionally believe in their toy nature.

But still, the main difference between Toy Story 4 and previous cartoons of the franchise is not in humor and high-quality graphics, but in the general mood and message. Now this is not only a story about friendship and blind loyalty. The new Toy Story is about leaving the past behind, stepping out of your comfort zone, and becoming a person by accepting an uncomfortable truth. Perhaps the fourth part has become the most adult in the entire franchise. All its components scream that the cartoon was created not for modern children, but primarily for those adults who were children at the time the very first Toy Story was released.

And if the third part was finished, but left room for the imagination and a hint of the possibility of a sequel, the fourth put an end to the history of the toy cowboy and astronaut, beloved by the whole world. After a long 24 years (spoiler ! ) Woody and Buzz break up to choose a new happy life for themselves. In one of the final scenes, the characters say goodbye. True, they say goodbye not so much to each other as to the viewer, for whom these plastic men were an integral part of growing up and learning about the world. Will we ever see the duo of these heroes on the big screen? Well, “infinity is not the limit!”

Quote from Toy Story 4. dir. Josh Cooley. 2019. USA

Woody and Buzz

Toy Story 4 is the perfect conclusion to the franchise that made Pixar famous worldwide.