This month the British Journal of Urology International reported on a study about weight loss and regaining bladder control. The conclusion is that as far as natural bladder treatments go, weight loss can be helpful, although the method of weight loss they studied wouldn’t be called natural and there were unexpected complications.
Natural Bladder Treatments Work
We all know there are plenty af adverse health effects of obesity including diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and cancer. But according to the study, about 25% of obese persons also have problems with bladder control.
The study was conducted in Australia and it included 142 women whose average age was 48 years old and 34 men whose average age was 53 years old. They all underwent gastric band surgery for weight loss over a ten year period and were asked about their bladder control problems and problems with erectile dysfunction before the surgery and afterwards.
According to the study, 65 % of the women in the study and about 25% of the men had problems with bladder control prior to the surgery. The exact effect of excess weight in men and its role in bladder control problems is not fully understood. In women, it’s about the excess weight that puts pressure on the bladder, especially when they cough, sneeze, laugh or do physical activity that puts extra pressure on the bladder. This is the standard definition of urinary stress incontinence.
After the gastric band surgery the study participants lost an average of 50 pounds. The women experienced an improvement in their stress incontinence symptoms most likely because of the decrease pressure on the bladder from the weight loss, but they had increased symptoms of urge incontinence – the sudden, frequent, urgent need to urinate even if there’s only a small amount of urine in the bladder.
The men did not have any improvement in bladder control but more alarmingly they had increased problems with sexual function. Prior to the gastric band surgery, 83% of the men had erectile dysfunction and after the surgery there were increased problems with sexual function.
Sexual function effects of gastric band surgery on women were not studied in this research project.
I was surprised to read the avg. weigh loss was only 50 pounds. We’re still early in 2011so you’ve got plenty of time to get those exercise and diet changes started for this year.
The take away from this as I see it is that a useful natural bladder treatment is weight loss which will benefit improved bladder control but doing it by gastric band surgery may have unexpected, unwanted side effects.
