Obesity And Incontinence Dependence
New York Times, 2 February 2009
Women in their menopause usually find it hard to control their weight. In the same time, some of them start having incontinence problems. Obesity and urine leaks appear to be related, as the new reports show.
In the research 338 overweight and obese women with incontinence problems took part. 226 of them went through a weight-loss programme. The programme included exercise, diet and information about healthy lifestyle. After the programme the patients reported half as many leakage episodes as before.
The other group contained 112 overweight women who did not participate in the weight-loss programme. They took part in educational sessions about weight-loss, healthy eating and physical activity.
A 47% reduction in the incontinence reported the women who lost 17 pounds or more after six months. Women in the other group lost about 3 pounds and experienced only a 28% less urine leakage.
Losing weight not only helps with the incontinence problems but also improves blood pressure, cholesterol, sleep and libido.
Dr. Leslee L. Subak, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, says “Weight loss should be a first-line recommendation for urinary incontinence”.
Further researches show that women suffering from incontinence who had a weight-loss surgery or underwent a low-calorie liquid diet, experience less urine leakage.
“A number of my patients will come in, and if you ask when their incontinence started getting worse, they will say, ‘Well, I guess it was about the time I started gaining weight,’ ” said Dr. Elaine Waetjen, a professor of gynecology at University of California, who studies incontinence.
