Urinary incontinence is a recurring disease in our country that mainly affects women and has a great impact on a social and psychological level, thus affecting the quality of life of those who suffer from it and, at the same time, reducing their self-esteem. In fact, in Chile it is estimated that this type of problem affects 62% of women over 30 years of age.
As explained by Dr. Daniel Sfeir, gynecologist and obstetrician at Clínica MEDS, “urinary incontinence is by definition the involuntary leakage of urine. It is a major pathology in women, which is essentially concentrated in them, because the length of the urethra is 4 cm and in men it is approximately 15 cm. In women, the containment mechanisms can become damaged over time, and there are also certain situations such as motherhood and other conditions that decrease collagen. This has different causes.”
The specialist added that “urinary leakage has two things that are terrible. One is skin irritation in the area and the other is a social issue. The person who has incontinence is linked to baths for life or, failing that, is embarrassed in situations in which they are sharing with other people and is then a cause of social isolation. Approximately one third of postmenopausal women have a degree of incontinence and this blocks them socially or makes them uncomfortable regarding their clothing. Furthermore, it is a topic that is not discussed.”
In this sense, the MEDS Clinic physician specified that there are two major pathologies: stress urinary incontinence and urgency urinary incontinence. “For example, it is very characteristic that patients say that when jumping this happens and that it is a mechanical action, which is associated with the problem of stress incontinence. The other is urgency incontinence, which is the urgent need to urinate, like when a person wakes up a lot at night to do so or when they go 10, 12 times a day to urinate throughout the day. A healthy life is very important, in terms of diet and in terms of not using elements that irritate the bladder and increase the possibility of having incontinence.”
Regarding the risk factors linked to this pathology, Dr. Sfeir clarified that close attention must be paid to “the use and abuse of tea and coffee, as well as drinks with dyes, which irritate the bladder and increase the entire part of the emergency contingency. Nowadays, there is a lot of water consumption, sometimes in excess, so some kind of schedule must be established for it. Do it predominantly in the mornings or throughout the day, but not in the afternoons or at night, because there is abundant water retention that will be eliminated and that will cause discomfort at night.”
“It also has to do with the use of medications. There are many drugs used for high blood pressure, which are associated with diuretics, which increase urine production. Also, this occurs a lot in diabetic patients who have glucosuria, which is the elimination of glucose through urine,” said the specialist in gynecology and obstetrics at the MEDS Clinic.
In relation to existing treatments, Dr. Sfeir stated that “we must start by ruling out the presence of an infection in the urine, since this can be the cause of involuntary urine leakage. This can be easily corrected. The emergency is treated with medication and the effort is based on improving the trophism of these muscles and these tissues, which can be achieved with exercise, with physical support, which is extremely important, and with the contribution of estrogen. If at the end of the road it is not possible to be successful with either of the two options, then we have to consider the next step, which is surgeries.”
#silent #drama #affects #women #years #age #Chile
