Bladder Control Problems (cont.)

Bladder Control Problems Causes

Incontinence is a symptom with a wide variety of causes. The most common causes include the following:

• Urinary tract infection
  
  
• Side effect of medication: Examples include alpha-blockers, calcium channel blockers, antidepressants, antihistamines, sedatives, sleeping pills, narcotics, caffeine-containing preparations, and water pills (diuretics). Occasionally, the medicines used to treat some forms of incontinence can also worsen the incontinence if not prescribed correctly.
  
  
• Impacted stool: Stool becomes so tightly packed in the lower intestine and rectum that a bowel movement becomes very difficult or impossible.
  
  
• Weakness of muscles in the bladder and surrounding area: This can have a variety of causes.
  
  
• Overactive bladder
  
  
• Bladder irritation
  
  
• Blocked urethra, usually due to enlarged prostate (in men)

Many of the causes are temporary, such as urinary tract infection. The incontinence improves or goes away completely when the underlying condition is treated. Others are longer lasting, but the incontinence can usually be treated.
Risk factors: Underlying causes or contributors to urinary incontinence include the following: 

• Smoking: The connection with incontinence is not completely clear, but smoking is known to irritate the bladder in many people.
  
  
• Obesity: Excess body fat can reduce muscle tone, including the muscles used to control urination.
  
  
• Chronic constipation: Regular straining to have a bowel movement can weaken the muscles that control urination.
  
  
• Diabetes: Diabetes can damage nerves and interfere with sensation.
  
  
• Spinal cord injury: Signals between the bladder and the brain travel via the spinal cord. Damage to the cord can interrupt those signals, disrupting bladder function.
  
  
• Disability or impaired mobility: People who have diseases such as arthritis, which make walking painful or slow, may have "accidents" before they can reach a toilet. Similarly, people who are permanently or temporarily confined to a bed or a wheelchair often have problems because of their inability to get to a toilet easily.
  
  
• Neurologic disease: Conditions such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer disease, or Parkinson disease can cause incontinence. The problem can be a direct result of a disrupted nervous system or an indirect result of having restricted movement.
  
  
• Surgery or radiation therapy to the pelvis: Incontinence can result from certain surgeries or medical therapies.
  
  
• Pregnancy: One third to one half of pregnant women have problems controlling their bladder. In most of these women, incontinence stops after delivery. However, 4-8% of pregnant women experience renewed incontinence after delivery (postpartum). Risk factors for postpartum incontinence include vaginal delivery, long second stage of labor (the time after the cervix is fully dilated), and having large babies.
  
  
• Menopause: Studies have not demonstrated a consistent increase in risk of incontinence following menopause. The relationship between postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy and incontinence is unclear.
  
  
• Hysterectomy: Women who have had a hysterectomy may have incontinence later in life.
  
  
• Enlarged prostate: In men with an enlarged prostate, the prostate can block the urethra, causing urine leakage. However, less than 1% of men treated for benign (noncancerous) enlargement of the prostate report incontinence.
  
  
• Prostate surgery: Up to 87% of men whose prostate has been removed report problems with incontinence.
  
  
• Bladder disease: Certain disorders of the bladder, including bladder cancer, can sometimes cause incontinence.

There are several types of urinary incontinence. Many people have more than one type. A combination of stress and urge incontinence is especially common. Stress and urge incontinence are the most common types.

• Stress incontinence: This occurs when you do anything that strains the muscles around the bladder, such as laughing, coughing, sneezing, bending, or even walking in some people. It is caused by weakness or injury to the muscles of the pelvis or the sphincters. The underlying causes include physical changes due to pregnancy, childbirth, or menopause. It is a frequent type of incontinence in women.
  
  
• Urge incontinence: This is a sudden uncontrollable desire to urinate regardless of how much urine is in the bladder. It is believed to be caused by inappropriate contractions of the bladder. The term "overactive bladder" has been adopted to describe urge incontinence, detrusor instability, and hypersensitive detrusor. Urgency, frequency, and urination at night (nocturia) are common in people with this condition. This is due to disruption of signals between the bladder and the brain. Environmental cues, such as running water or putting the key in the front door, may prompt urgency or leakage. It is a frequent type of incontinence in both men and women.
  
  
• Mixed incontinence: This is a mixture of stress and urge incontinence.
  
  
• Overflow incontinence: This results when you retain urine in your bladder either because your muscle tone is weak or you have some sort of blockage below your bladder. Symptoms include dribbling, urgency, hesitancy, low-force urine stream, straining, and urinating only a small amount despite a sensation of urgency. It is a frequent type of incontinence in men.
  
  
• Neuropathic incontinence: This results from a problem affecting one or more nerves. Either the detrusor muscle overcontracts or the interior sphincter lacks the tension to hold urine in.
  
  
• Fistula: This is an abnormal internal connection between organs or structures such as the bladder, ureters, or urethra. This can cause incontinence.
  
  
• Traumatic incontinence: This is incontinence that occurs after injury to your pelvis (such as a fracture) or as a complication of surgery.
  
  
• Congenital incontinence: This may occur in people born with their bladder or one or both ureters out of place.
  
  
• Obstruction to urine flow: This may cause incontinence.

The following seem to have little or nothing to do with causing bladder control problems:

• Problems or delays in toilet training in childhood (However, some evidence links childhood voiding dysfunction with adult voiding dysfunction, that is, incontinence.)
  
  
• Having a parent with a bladder control problem

Next: Bladder Control Problems Symptoms »

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