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Urinary Incontinence 1
November 8, 2007
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Lillian Robinson is a healthy and active 73-year-old. But in the past few years
urinary incontinence has put her in many uncomfortable situations.
She says, “Standing up sometimes if I didn’t go to the bathroom I would wet on myself
and at night I had to get up about 15 times.”
Dr. Dirk Peterson is the OBGYN who treated Lillian for her urinary problems. He
says her symptoms are very common. “Miss Lillian came to see me complaining of classic
or typical symptoms of prolapse that is pressure when she moved her bowels, discomfort
in her vagina, a feeling that something was falling out and lastly leaking of urine
at inappropriate times.
Physicians say urinary incontinence is a common condition especially for women who
have had children. “The more babies a woman has the bigger the babies are, the longer
she’s in labor the greater the damage to the pelvic floor,” says Dr. Peterson.
Other risk factors for pelvic prolapsed or incontinence include smoking and alcohol
abuse, obesity, menopause or prior pelvic surgery.
Dr. Peterson says, “If she’s had a hysterectomy as many women have before they come to see me the support for the pelvis has been undermined by that surgery.”
He adds that many women often keep quiet about the condition and the uncomfortable
symptoms. “The time that elapses between the onset of symptoms when the patient first notices things like incontinence or pressure or discomfort and the patients coming to seek advice is about eight years in the United States so women tolerate
those symptoms for a long time.”
One in three women are said to suffer from some form of urinary incontinence. There are several options for treatment including surgery.
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