Often times when I am speaking on the phone with my Mom, age 83 and the mother of seven, she has to end the call as she must run to the restroom. A friend of mine, also in her 80’s, had an “accident” in my car after our dinner out and now seldom goes out of her house. Incontinence can be debilitating but the article below may offer some answers.
There are a number of reasons why urinary incontinence occurs. Gender, age (the muscles in the bladder and urethra weaken during old age), obesity, and smoking are risk factors linked to urinary incontinence. Read more…
Urinary Incontinence: Causes, Treatments and Symptoms
August 24, 2016
Urinary incontinence is the involuntary leakage of urine; in simple terms, it means a person urinates when they do not want to. Control over the urinary sphincter is either lost or weakened.
“Urinary incontinence is a much more common problem than most people realize.
According to the American Urological Association, one-quarter to one-third of men and women in the United States experience urinary incontinence.
Urinary incontinence is more common among women than men. An estimated 30 percent of females aged 30-60 are thought to suffer from it, compared to 1.5-5 percent of men.
…Ways to diagnose urinary incontinence include:
- A bladder diary – the doctor may ask the patient to record how much they drink, when urination occurs, how much urine is produced, and the number of episodes of incontinence.
- Physical exam – the doctor may examine the vagina and check the strength of her pelvic floor muscles. If the patient is male, the doctor may examine his rectum to determine whether the prostate gland is enlarged.
- Urinalysis – tests for signs of infection and abnormalities.
- Blood test – to assess kidney function.
- PVR (postvoid residual) measurement – measures how much urine is left in the bladder after urinating.
- Pelvic ultrasound.
- Stress test – the patient will be asked to apply sudden pressure while the doctor looks out for loss of urine.
- Urodynamic testing – determines how much pressure the bladder and urinary sphincter muscle can withstand.
- Cystogram – X-ray procedure to visualize the bladder.
- Cystoscopy – a cystoscope (a thin tube with a lens at the end) is inserted into the urethra. The doctor can view abnormalities in the urinary tract.”
Read more about the causes, treatments and symptoms of incontinence