1. What is urinary incontinence?
2. How common is urinary incontinence?
3. What causes urinary incontinence?
4. What are the different types of urinary incontinence?
5. Why does urinary incontinence affect more women than men?
6. What are the risk factors of urinary incontinence?
7. What are the symptoms of urinary incontinence?
8. What are the complications of urinary incontinence?
9. How is urinary incontinence diagnosed?
10. How is urinary incontinence treated?
The process of urination is controlled by various muscles of the urinary system. Important muscles for urination include the muscles of the urinary bladder and sphincter muscles of urethra. In the normal process, the urine is formed in kidneys and stored in the urinary bladder. When the bladder becomes full, the bladder muscle contracts, and there is a simultaneous relaxation of urethra muscles, which lead to urination. However, in some cases, there is a urine leakage due to poor control over the bladder function. This condition of leakage is known as urinary incontinence. During urinary incontinence, the muscle of bladder contracts suddenly, due to the pressure created by sneezing, laughing and exercising, and the sphincter muscles of the urethra are unable to withstand the pressure, thereby causing leakage of urine. Urinary incontinence is common in older people as compared to young people.
Because of its prevalence in approximately 5% of the general population, WHO has considered urinary incontinence as a social disease. The prevalence of urinary incontinence in various studies ranges from 5% to 70%. The prevalence increases with age. Approximately 40% of the women over the age of 70 years are affected by urinary incontinence. Females are more affected by urinary incontinence as compared to their male counterparts. The annual incidence of urinary incontinence is about 1% to 9%. Stress urinary incontinence was the most common cause followed by mixed urinary incontinence and urge incontinence.
Urinary incontinence may be either temporary or persistent.
Temporary urinary incontinence causes include:
Persistent urinary incontinence causes include:
Urinary incontinence type may help to evaluate the cause of urinary incontinence and deciding the precise treatment. The types of urinary incontinence are:
Various health events specific to women make them more prone to urinary incontinence as compared to males. The pelvic floor muscles are important to control urination. However, pelvic floor muscles may damage due to pregnancy and childbirth. This may cause urinary incontinence. The urinary incontinence may also be caused due to menopause, a condition that is exclusive to women. During menopause, the level of estrogen reduces leading to poor health of the muscular lining of bladder and urethra. This causes poor control over urination.
Anatomical variations in women in comparison to men also cause urinary incontinence. For instance, shorter urethra in women makes them vulnerable to urinary incontinence.
Urinary continence risk factors include:
It is to be noted that urinary incontinence itself is a symptom of underlying medical conditions either leading to damaged urinary tract muscles or functional incontinence. Urinary incontinence symptom may be accompanied by:
Urinary incontinence, if left untreated, may lead to the following complications:
Urinary incontinence diagnosis is done through the following techniques:
Various options for urinary incontinence treatment are:
Kegel exercises are the exercises done to increase the strength of pelvic floor muscles. As the pelvic floor muscles support the uterus and urinary bladder, the exercise helps in managing symptoms of urinary incontinence. Exercise can also be done during pregnancy and prevent the weakening of pelvic floor muscles. You should consult with your healthcare provider before doing Kegel exercise.
Measures for urinary incontinence prevention include
References:
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