Extra pounds, especially in the belly, are considered a risk factor for urinary incontinence. And some studies have found that when overweight women drop even a modest amount of weight, they can curb their risk of incontinence.

Type 2 diabetes, which often goes hand-in-hand with obesity, is also a risk factor for incontinence, regardless of weight. So weight loss could be especially helpful for heavy women with diabetes, however studies hadn’t looked at the question until now.

In the new study, researchers found that overweight diabetic women who took up diet and exercise changes lost an average of 17 pounds over a year. And with the weight loss came a lower risk of developing incontinence.

Over a year, 10.5% of women in the diet-and-exercise group developed new problems with urine leakage. That compared with 14% of women who had not made lifestyle changes.

“Overweight and obese women with type 2 diabetes should consider weight loss as a way to reduce their risk of developing urinary incontinence,” said lead researcher Suzanne Phelan, of California Polytechnic State University.

The findings, reported in the Journal of Urology, are based on 2,739 middle-aged and older women who were part of a larger diabetes study.

For every two pounds a woman lost, the odds of developing incontinence dipped by three percent.

On the other hand, weight loss did not seem to help women who already had urine leakage problems at the study’s start. “We aren’t sure why weight loss appeared to impact prevention but not resolution of urinary incontinence,” Phelan said.

It’s possible, she said, that weight loss is more effective at preventing, rather than treating, urine leakage. Or there may simply have been too few women with existing urinary incontinence to detect an effect of weight loss, Phelan added.

It’s also unclear how to account for the drop in incontinence risk — it might be related to the exercise or the blood sugar reduction, for instance.

Urinary incontinence is very common among women – mainly because vaginal childbirth is a major risk factor.

One recent study of U.S. adults found that about 53% of women older over 20 yrs old said they’d had problems with urine leakage in the past year. That was up from less than 50%  of women surveyed several years earlier. Researchers commented that the increase was partly explained by rising rates of diabetes and obesity.

SOURCE: Journal of Urology, online January 19, 2012.

Because Alzheimer’s is a neurological disease, patients often have trouble recognizing physical urges or remembering where a bathroom is located, which can contribute to bladder or bowel incontinence and also certain drugs can also relax the bladder muscles or cause increased urination.

Some simple steps to help a loved one cope with dementia and incontinence are:

-Remind the person where the toilet is located, and encourage regular visits.

-Ensure the route to the toilet is clear of obstacles and well lit.

-Provide visual cues by painting the bathroom door a contrasting color and perhaps posting a toilet sign on the door.

-Make the toilet and bathroom safer with grab bars, a raised toilet seat and nightlights.

-Provide clothing that is easy to remove, with no complicated belts or buttons.

-Use an Incontinence Product Finder to choose disposable or washable undergarments by style, selecting a type your loved one can easily get on and off.

-Explain the importance of keeping skin clean, moisturized and protected, using products made to prevent breakdown and infection.

-Protect bedding and furniture with disposable or washable pads.

-Don’t cut down on fluids, which can lead to dangerous dehydration, but encourage your loved one to cut back before bedtime.

A Carer’s Guide leaflet on with more information on how to help a loved one deal with incontinence, can be requested here.

Greater awareness of the symptoms and issues is vital for those working in older people’s housing – both because it allows them to help directly more themselves and to make sure that other agencies take the issues seriously.

Dementia consultant Victoria Metcalfe explains: “In the past we’ve had scheme managers speak to social services and be told ‘It’s your job to look after the situation’. If scheme managers are more informed they recognise that this isn’t just a general symptom of getting old. Being able to explain the circumstances more clearly makes it easier for our people to get support from the appropriate agencies.”

Talking to family members is also crucial, as well as encouraging people to visit a GP if they have concerns: “40% of people living with dementia are never diagnosed as such,” Metcalfe says. “But it might not be dementia. It’s important to get a GP involved to rule out other causes such as an infection.”

There are also very practical measures that can be taken in retirement housing. “Where there aren’t 24-hour carers, the environment is crucial. To help those who may become disoriented, you can ensure that different floors are easy to identify such as by putting a pot plant by the lift entrance on one floor and a picture on another floor,” she explains. Additional clues, such as an image or ornament in addition to a door number can help people navigate.

“There will always be a group of people who need to live in a care home, but a move is not always necessary and doesn’t have to happen immediately. Other people in a scheme are often supportive if they know the person,” Metcalfe says.

Talking to family members to ensure the person with dementia has a note on the inside of their door to remind them when they can expect a visit can help alleviate concerns and confusion. But while the solutions are often simple, increasing pressures on state funding can be a barrier.

And while there has been real progress on recognising and dealing with dementia, accessing advice can be a challenge. The move to personal budgets could add significantly to that burden, as a report published by the Alzheimer’s Society last month indicated.

He said he often has to go the roundabout way of getting women to talk about their urinary incontinence, but a good percentage of his patients are dealing with it.

“I’d say about 40 percent of them won’t say anything about it if I don’t ask,” he said.

Various types of incontinence — stress incontinence, urge incontinence or a mixture of the two — can be caused by poor genes, weak muscles, unhealthy lifestyles and/or an overactive bladder muscle, among other things. Most commonly, a leaky or bulging bladder has something to do with vaginal prolapse, which is a splitting of the muscles in the vaginal wall, allowing the bladder to sag internally.

Multiple pregnancies, hysterectomy and menopause can also contribute to the causes of female incontinence. However, that is not always the case.

Many women put up with the symptoms, but Hutchison said nearly all types of incontinence can be fixed, resulting in a better quality of life.

“There’s a social stigma associated with incontinence,” Snyder said. Putting up with the symptoms over the years, however, will not cause permanent damage.

Weight loss can sometimes help in the case of stress incontinence, which happens when coughing, sneezing, jogging or other activity leads to a loss of control of the bladder. But oftentimes, women must endure the inconveniences of urine leakage while losing the weight as most types of exercise can spur it on.

Men don’t typically have the same issues with incontinence because their bladder is supported by the structure of the pelvis, Hutchison said.

He hopes women aren’t just living with the constant annoyances incontinence causes, dealing with absorbent pads or diapers. Most cases, he said, can be prevented by “just taking care of yourself.”

Chronic constipation, consumption of caffeinated or carbonated beverages, as well as those with artificial sweeteners, can irritate the bladder, leading to more trips to the restroom and an inability to completely empty the bladder, Hutchison said. Smoking, which breaks down the body’s collagen supply, and chronic coughing that puts stress on muscles can also lead to incontinence

Snyder, a specialist who deals with kidney, bladder and prostate issues, said he’s seen patients ranging from 17 years of age to 81, but urinary incontinence symptoms are most common in women during their late 30s and early 40s.

Achieving normalcy is the goal of any treatment, which can include medications, surgery and nonsurgical procedures.

“The secret is a good relationship between the patient and her doctor,” Snyder said, adding that an open dialogue helps to arrive at the best possible outcomes, which is an informed decision.

Tena Pants

After the earlier article regarding which Incontinence Pants to use, we have had a number of enquiries regarding the fitting of these products.

Unlike All in One Incontinence pads they are simple to fit and pull up just like normal underwear.

For those who would like a fitting guide and further tips on product use a fitting guide for Tena Pants can be found here.

Lil Pants

We offer the full ranges of both Tena and Lille incontinence pants.

Tena Pants come in a wide variety of absorptions, from Tena Pants Discreet for light stress incontinence, through Tena Pants Normal and Tena Pants Plus to Tena Pants Super for heavier conditions, especially urge incontinence. Tena Pants Super is also good for helping to contain faecal conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) though as with all incontinence products they won’t absorb faecal matter and will need to be changed once any incident occurs. Lil Incontinence Pants come in Extra, Super and Maxi absorbencies. Again the Maxi absorbency is also suitable for managing faecal conditions.

One advantage of the Lille Incontinence Pants is that all three absorptions are available in an Extra Large Size. However the downside is that only the Maxi absorbancy is available in a Small size in the Lil range.

On the other hand both the Tena Pants Plus and Super ranges offer a small size. The Tena Pants Plus range offers not just Small, Medium and Large sizes but also an Extra Large and an Extra Small size. The Extra Small size is ideal for teenagers and small children who benefit from using pull-up’s rather than more traditional all in one style products.

All our incontinence pant products are unisex and are designed to be worn by both Men and Women.

If you are advised to take one dose of diuretics, then it is better to take it as soon as you finish your breakfast. No matter when and how many dosages of diuretics are prescribed to you, make it a point to take the last dose of the day before 4 o’clock in the evening, that way they will have worked to empty the bladder long before night time, reducing the need to get up during the night or reducing incidences of night time incontinence.

Please note that you should take a dose after that if your doctor has advised you to do so. If you are taking over the counter diuretics then you may also like to ask the pharmacist about the dosage. The time between two doses of diuretics also depends on the number of doses and the type of diuretics that are prescribed to you. There are a few more precautions that you may need to take while taking diuretics. For instance, it is mandatory for you to check your blood pressure and kidneys regularly, while on diuretics. It is also essential to check the levels of blood potassium and magnesium, as the diuretics may cause a significant drop in their levels.

Darren Fletcher

The announcement by Manchester United, the Scottish Midfield Dynamo is suffering from Ulcerative Colitis is sad news for both himself and also the team but it does help increase awareness of this disabilitating condition amongst the general public.

Talking to the Guardian Newspaper, Dr. Ian Arnott,  a leading specialist in ulcerative colitis and consultant gastroenterologist at the Western General hospital in Edinburgh said:

“Ulcerative colitis can be a very disabling condition and leaves people weak, tired, frustrated and lacking energy. It can change people’s lives completely. They can’t be very far from the toilet so aren’t able to go out very much. Patients tell me that when they go to a nearby town or city, they know exactly where every toilet is, because they often get very little warning about needing to go to the toilet. It can mean that people have accidents with their bowel motions. It’s an embarrassing condition – it’s a difficult subject to talk to people about.”

Ulcerative colitis is inflammation of the large intestine (both the colon and rectum) accompanied by development of ulcers in this area which can have a tendency to bleed. These are what can cause the common symptoms of the condition, diarrhoea and passing blood and mucus, often accompanied by stomach pains.

The cause is not known and the condition can affect anyone, though some believe it to be genetically linked as it is often common amongst relatives. One common belief is that some factor such as food, atmospheric pollution or stress may trigger the immune system to cause inflammation in the large intestine in people who are genetically prone to developing the disease.

People who live with the condition will have good periods of remission when they feel normal, this can last up to a month or even a few years – and bad periods when they feel dreadful and can be forced to go to the toilet six, eight or even 10 times a day, including nightime.

About 2 in 1,000 people in the UK develop Ulcearative Colitis and it can develop at any age but most commonly first develops between the ages of 10 and 40 years old. Statistically non-smokers are more likely to get Ulecerative Colitis than smokers though smoking obviously brings other dangers to health which far outweigh this benefit.

Crohn’s disease also has similar symptoms, and the two conditions are referred to together as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). One in 200 people in the UK develop IBD, so around 300,000 have that overall.

To diagnose Ulcerative Colitis the normal test is for a doctor to look inside the large intestine by passing a special telescope into the rectum and colon.  A stool sample is also commonly done during each flare-up and sent to test for bacteria and other infecting germs.

When Ulcerative Colitis is first developed it is usual to take medication until symptoms clear. After that a course of medication is then usually taken each time symptoms flare up. The drug selected depends on both the severity of the symptoms and the location of the inflammation, other drugs may be advised to take daily to prevent further flare-ups which reduce by up to 50% the likelihood of experiencing a flare-up.

About 25% of people with the condition need surgery at some stage, the most common procedure is the removal of the large intestine.

Although not related to incontinence the condition shares many similarities in that view people talk about the condition, former England Rugby Captain, Lewis Moody has also now come forward and talked about his own experiences of the condition, including how he tried to hide it. “There was no way I was going to let my secret out to a bunch of rugby players who would then mock me mercilessly. I ended up hiding it from them for three years and I slumped into a state of depression.”

However sharing your experiences can help and Moody admitted that hiding it hadn’t been helpful. “Eventually, I decided to tell my best friend at Leicester, Geordan Murphy. He had guessed something was up. He was sympathetic, of course, but he didn’t overdo it. Geordan made me realise that perhaps it had not been the best course to keep everything to myself.  Slowly, events made it inevitable that others would know. The England management were more than understanding, as were the Leicester coaching team when I finally mustered the courage to tell them. Ironically, I became less stressed about my condition when people knew about it. Being stubborn about it and keeping it a secret had simply made life harder for myself.”

The need to know the location of toilets wherever you travel is also shared, and regular toilet use is important as well, as well as the use of absorbent incontinence products when necessary to give confidence.

Issue Codes Incontinence Accessories and Hygiene

A hospital in Surrey hopes to raise awareness of adult incontinence by holding an awareness day next month.

The event, which will take place at Frimley Park Hospital, will teach members of the public about bladder and bowel problems, as well as the treatments that are available.

Many people believe adult incontinence only affects older people, but in fact as many as one in five women and one in ten men will experience problems at some point.

Jane Bibey, urology nurse specialist at Frimley Park Hospital, told the Get Hampshire website that people are often “reluctant” to discuss urinary incontinence.

“Embarrassment is a huge factor in stopping them from seeking help for what is actually a very common but nevertheless distressing problem,” Ms Bibey said.

“Incontinence can be soul destroying but there is a range of treatment solutions available.”

People who wish to find out more are invited to attend the hospital between 10:00 and 16:00 on September 28th, when they will be able to talk to urology nurse specialists and physiotherapists.

Frimley Park Hospital is an NHS foundation trust hospital that serves Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire.

Issue Codes Incontinence Products for Men

People who are affected by male incontinence should pay special attention to their skin, an expert has claimed.

Dr Nancy Muller, executive director of the US National Association for Continence, told the Huffington Post that men with urinary incontinence tend to be more affected by skin irritation than women with the condition.

She revealed: “They have more problems with rashes and skin fungus, and often don’t give enough attention to the perineal area around the scrotum.”

The expert told the news provider that men can use moisturisers and barrier creams to prevent their skin from becoming dry and inflamed.

She added that men who use incontinence pads or pants should change them every few hours to reduce the risk of infection.

Dr Muller also noted that manufacturers of incontinence supplies “have recognised, finally, that the male anatomy is different from female”, and that there is now a range of gender-specific products available to people with adult incontinence.

About five per cent of men in the UK are affected by some degree of urinary incontinence, according to figures reported on the NHS Choices website.