New Treatment Provides Hope for Overactive Bladder
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OVERACTIVE BLADDER
Information about overactive bladder is available, and so is help.
Overactive bladder is a widespread medical condition characterized by the following symptoms:
Urgency - (sudden, strong desire to urinate)
Frequency - (urinating more than 8 times in 24 hours)
urge incontinence - (sudden & total involuntary loss of urine)
An estimated 17 million Americans, primarily women, are affected by overactive bladder. Despite overactive bladder being a relatively common condition, there is little awareness of the fact that it can be treated. Only an estimated 20% of people in the United States with overactive bladder are under a physician's care for the condition. Many people do not seek medical help because they mistakenly believe that bladder control problems are an inevitable part of aging, or they are too embarrassed to talk about their problem with a physician.
Although not all people with overactive bladder have wet themselves, they may struggle with symptoms of urgency and frequency and live with an intensifying fear that a wetting accident might occur. After having had overwhelming and unexpected urges to urinate, some people with overactive bladder begin to go to the bathroom defensively; that is, they go to the bathroom whenever they can, even if they don't feel they need to, in hope of preventing an accident.
The fear of having a wetting accident can lead people to change their daily routines in order to attempt to prevent accidents by:
limiting daily travel to places and routes where they know the locations of all the restrooms
reducing fluids when away from home
avoiding sexual intimacy
wearing adult pads or diapers
preferring to drive themselves everywhere, so they can control bathroom stops
carrying extra clothes and diapers everywhere they go, in case of a wetting accident
wearing dark, often baggy clothing to hide wet spots and/or conceal adult diapers
sitting on the aisle at the theater, on planes, to have an easier exit to the bathroom
sitting closest to the door in meetings, at dinner, for easier exit to the bathroom
Many men and women develop this condition as they grow older, but overactive bladder is not a normal part of aging among adults and does not have to be endured. Overactive bladder can be effectively treated, just like other chronic medical conditions such as hypertension or adult-onset diabetes.
There are different kinds of bladder control problems. Each has a different cause and exhibits different symptoms. In order to get proper medical treatment, it is important that a healthcare provider identify which type you have. Most bladder control problems happen when muscles are either too weak or too active. Problems also may occur when nerve signals don't work property.
Many people find it difficult to talk about bladder control problems with anyone, even their doctors. They think to themselves, "There is nothing I can do about if' or "Many people my age have this."
Overactive bladder is not a condition you have to endure. Many people with the condition once felt there was nothing they could do, but after seeking help, they discovered that they could take action to improve their condition.
The questionnaire below will help you prepare to seek help:
Do you frequently have a sudden urge to urinate?
Do you sometimes not make it to the bathroom in time?
Do you go to the bathroom more than 8 times during the day?
Do you get up 2 or 3 times during the night to go to the bathroom?
Have you stopped doing things you used to do and enjoy because you are afraid of having a wetting accident?
Do you wear dark? baggy clothing to hide wet spots?
Do you wear adult pads or other absorbent materials to cope with bladder problems?
Do you find yourself not going anywhere unless you know where all the bathrooms are located?
Do you carry extra clothing and diapers with you, just in case?
How long have you had these symptoms?
I am currently taking the following medicines: (list the medications below)
___________________ __________________ ___________________
___________________ __________________ ___________________
WHERE CAN I GET HELP?
Access to Continence Care & Treatment (ACCT)
Continence Specialists Registry
834 Chestnut Street, Suite T 171
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 923-1492
(215) 923-9024 FX
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR)
Publications Clearinghouse
P.O. Box 8547
Silver Spring, NW 20907
(800) 358-9295
(301) 594-2800 FX
http://www.ahcpr.gov
American Academy of Family Physicians
8880 Ward Parkway
Kansas City, MO 64114-2797
(800) 274-2237
AARP
601 E. Street, NW
Washington, DC 20049
(202) 434-2277
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
ACOG Resource Center - (202) 863-2518
Publications Distribution Center
P.O. Box 4500
Kearneysville, WV 25430-4500
(800) 762-02264
(800) 525-5562 FX
American Foundation for Urologic Disease (AFUD)
300 West Pratt Street #401
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 727-2908
(800) 242-2383
American Urological Association (AUA)
AUA Ortho/Karol Media
P.O. Box 7600
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18773-7600
(713) 665-7500
(713) 665-7898 FX
National Association for Continence (NAFC)
P.O. Box 8310
Spartanburg, SC 29305
(800) 252-3337
(864) 579-7902 FX
http://www.nafc.org
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Building 3 1, Room 5C27
31 Center Drive, MSC 2178
Bethesda, MD 20892-2178
(800) 3352-9424
National Kidney Foundation (NKF)
30 East 33rd Street
New York, New York 10016
(212) 889-2210
(800) 622-9010
Let's Talk About Bladder Control for Women Campaign
(800) 891-5388
National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NIDDK)
31 Information Way
Bethesda, MD 20892-3580
(301) 654-4415
http://www.niddk.nih.gov
Pharmacia & Upjohn
7000 Portage Road
Kalamazoo, M1 49001
(800) 669-1054
The Simon Foundation for Continence
P.O. Box 815
Wilmette, IL 60091
(800) 237-4666
(847) 864-3913 FX
Society for Urological Nurses and Associates (SUNA)
East Holly Avenue
Box 56
Pitman, NJ 08071-0056
(609) 256-2335
(609) 589-7463 FX
Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurses Society (WOCN)
2755 Bristol Street, #110
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 476-0268
Other Resources on Overactive Bladder:
1. Urinary Incontinence in Adults: NIH Consensus Development Conference
http://text.nlm.nih.gov/nih
2. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research
http://www.ahcpr.gov/clinic
3. National Association for Continence
http://www.nafc.org
4. National Institute on Aging: Urinary Incontinence
http://www.nih.gov/nia/health/pubpub/urinary.htm
Urinary Incontinence in Women
http://www.niddknih.gov/uriinwmn/uriinwmn/htm
1. What Your Female Patients Want to Know About Bladder Control
http://www.niddknih.gov./uibcw/patients/patients.htm
2. Women's Health and Aging Study: Chapter 5
http://www.nih,gov/nia/edb/whasbook/chap5/chap5.htm
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