Incontinence is a condition that affects a wide variety of individuals, both genders, all ages and for a wide variety of reasons. In America the adult incontinence products market generates 1.3 billion Dollars, approximatelly 850 million Pounds, no wonder the three major incontinence products manufacturers are investing big on the marketing of their new products.

Tena Incontinence Products, one of the major players in the US incontinence market are due to launch a new range of female incontinence pads named the Tena Ultra Thins.

Till now for moderate to heavy leakages there was little option and pads were rather bulky. Tena Ultra Thins are improved and less bulky incontinence pads designed specially for the moderate to heavy segment.

Spence Deane Deane from Personal Care Products Marketing VP at SCA Pesonal Care North America, Tena’s Parent Company, has said that these new incontinence pads will provide more discretion to female users.

There are no set dates for a UK launch but stay tuned on our blog as news emerges we will sure have it first hand.

In 2010 social care is in crisis and in need of urgent reform. The main carers’ benefit is worth just £1.52 an hour, well short of the minimum wage of £5.73. (and even less than that if you’re retired, disabled or on a low income).

Carers are paying a heavy price – no money, no breaks, many forced to give up work and a constant battle for support. Some are pushed to the point of collapse.

The government has invested in carers’ breaks and other support for carers. But this falls far short of the action needed now if it is to make good on its promise that by 2018 carers will have a life of their own and not be forced into financial hardship.

Tell the next government it’s time to support carers by signing the letter to the next Prime Minister here.

Created for veterinary use, ketamine was originally developed to knock-out horses, but became increasingly accessible to drug users throughout the 90s.

Like many drugs that became popular in the 90s, the extent of its long-term damage is only now – a decade or so later – becoming apparent.

Speaking to BBC’s Newsbeat, doctors reported an increase in new evidence that supports claims that the drug is causing symptoms ranging from serious stomach pains to incontinence among once-ketamine users

Doctor Angela Cottrell, who is researching the link between ketamine and bladder damage at the Bristol Urological Institute, said:

“People need to be more aware of this, the short-term effects can be severe enough but we just don’t know what the long term effects are.”

Right now, ketamine is considered a Class C drug, but there are speculations that it could be upgraded to Class B and studies like the one conducted by Dr. Angela could well help support this upgrade.

Ketamine use has reportedly doubled in a single year amongst 16-to-24 year olds who still consider it a “clean drug”. The common perception amongst young drug-takers is that Ketamine can’t ‘mess up your body’, but what they don’t realise is that, in extreme cases, the drug can cause lasting damage in the long-run.

A handful of ex-ketamine abusers have needed an operation to have their bladders removed leaving them incontinent for the rest of their life. Whilst a link hasn’t yet been scientifically proven, there is a worrying correlation between ex-users and people suffering bladder and incontinence problems. Enough to indicate that there is indeed a link between incontinence and the drug itself.

Caring for Carers seems to be picking up momentum as a delegation of Carers UK members recently visited 10 Downing Street to hand in the Carers Poverty Charter.

The Carers Poverty Charter – launched on BBC Breakfast back in May – calls for urgent action to improve carer finances.

One of the Carers in charge of delivering the Poverty Charter to Number 10 was Don Brereton, Chair of Carers UK, who said:

“This Charter sends a message loud and clear to the Government. Warm words and promises are not enough – carers need action now to stop them falling into poverty as a result of caring.”

The next deliveries have already been shipped out and are going to Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, asking the government to set out a concrete timetable of actions to improve carers’ benefits.

The Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Urogynecology at the University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Hospital conducted a study to evaluate whether women with urge urinary incontinence have lower quality of life than women with other forms of urinary incontinence.

Patients completed three validated questionnaires when presenting for evaluation at an urogynecology practice and were divided into four groups based on their responses: those with symptoms of stress urinary incontinence (SUI), urge urinary incontinence, both SUI and UUI (mixed UI), and neither SUI nor UUI (controls).

A total of 465 women were included, of which 53 women had urge urinary incontinence, 101 stress urinary incontinence, 200 mixed urinary incontinence and 111 controls.

Based on the scores of the QOL (quality of life) questionnaire doctors concluded that women with urge urinary incontinence and mixed urinary incontinence have lower quality of life than women with stress urinary incontinence.

A damaged sphincter is in most cases the main cause of stress urinary incontinence, the sphincter is the muscle that tightens to controls urinary flow. A revolutionary new surgery could help this muscle regain its normal activity.

This promising new Incontinence treatment is been tested by Canadian doctors and is described as muscle cell injection therapy, doctors first take a biopsy of the leg muscle to isolate muscle stem cells and get them to multiply and then inject those cells into the sphincter muscle while the patient is under local aesthetic.

Of the 29 women who participated in a study by Dr. Carr and associates, 68 per cent said their quality of life was improved and 61 per cent said their urinary leakage was reduced and symptoms improved three months after the first injection.

Even though this procedure is a few years away from becoming a routine procedure Dr. Carr stated that safety is not a concern and said:

“This is just a muscle cell. The safety of these types of cells is much greater than other types of stem cells,”

And added:

“I think this kind of restorative medicine and using stem cells is the future.”

This new procedure could be a solution to one in every three women with stress urinary incontinence.

Watchdog says too many people experience a ‘one-size-fits-all’ care service, despite attempts by the government to personalise care.

The Commission for Social Care Inspection’s report on social care in England 2007-08 found the Department of Health’s Putting People First initiative had not really improved the care most people received.

The CSCI chairman, Dame Denise Platt, said: ‘People who need social care should be seen as individuals, first and foremost. The support they receive should be tailormade, allowing people to live their lives as they choose. If we get it right for people with complex needs, it is likely that we’ll get it right for everyone.’

The report discovered an improvement in the overall performance of councils and care services, but are still concerned about people being lost to the system because they were ineligible for funded support.

Director general of Age Concern, Gordon Lishman said: ‘The report highlights the widespread discrimination against older people in the drive to more personalised care. Older people who get direct payments are likely to get far less money than younger people with similar needs.’

‘We are also very concerned at the lack of information, advice and support for those receiving direct payments.’

And Imelda Redmond, chief executive of Carers UK, said: ‘When services work well and are tailored to people’s needs they not only improve the lives for older and disabled people, but they give carers the opportunity to get some of their own lives back. With the right support many are able to combine caring with paid work, whether full- or part-time, have a regular break and have a social life.’

We’ve been contacted by Ruth Tierney who is writing an article for the Daily Mirror on Stress Incontinence. As part of the article they are looking for a lady under 50 who has experienced stress incontinence at some point in their life. If you would like the opportunity to share your experiences of this condition with others then please contact Ruth at tierneyruth@aol.com or contact us and we will pass on your details. The article is due to feature soon so please contact Ruth or ourselves before 14th July.

The BBC website is currently running a series focusing on medical specialisms and recently featured an article on Julian Shah, a consultant urologist.

The article is very interesting, not just talking about the different types of incontinence but also talking about the different steps involved in treatment (focused on longer term cures beyond incontinence pants and incontinence pads). The article again talks about the importance of pelvic floor exercises, and also highlights the importance of discussing the condition with a health professional as there are a large varieties of treatment available nowadays.

This is demonstrated when Mr. Shah talks about his most satisfying case – “I had a man of 50 who had spina bifida and had been incontinent all his life. He was a very wealthy man and had everything he wanted except continence. After investigation and treatment he was perfectly dry and his life was transformed. We do see a lot of patients like that whose lives are transformed by our interventions. Patients are sometimes too shy to come forward and do not realise there is anything for them – there are probably tens of thousands of people out there who do not realise there is something that can be done for them.”

For the full article visit the BBC website or to read more about the causes and treatments for incontinence you can visit the help and advice section of our website.

For those still unsure which incontinence product is best for your needs, don’t forget to check out our sample packs which contain individual samples of the different types of disposable products (e.g. All in one pads, shaped pads, incontinence pants). The packs are available for different levels of incontinence and each contains at mix of suitable products such as Tena Slip, Tena Flex, Tena Pants, Tena for Men and Lille Slip-on amongst others.

Packs cost from only £1.50 (plus post & packing if appropriate) and each pack has a voucher for 20% discount on your following order so that you will easily save the cost of the pack and more when you come to order (N.B. discount can only be applied to one order).

For more information see the sample packs section of our website.