Urinary incontinence
Uncontrolled leakage of urine / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Urinary incontinence?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Urinary incontinence (UI), also known as involuntary urination, is any uncontrolled leakage of urine. It is a common and distressing problem, which may have a large impact on quality of life.[1] It has been identified as an important issue in geriatric health care.[2] The term enuresis is often used to refer to urinary incontinence primarily in children, such as nocturnal enuresis (bed wetting).[3] UI is an example of a stigmatized medical condition, which creates barriers to successful management and makes the problem worse.[4] People may be too embarrassed to seek medical help, and attempt to self-manage the symptom in secrecy from others.
Urinary incontinence | |
---|---|
Other names | Involuntary urination |
Anatomy of the lower urinary tract and genital system. The top diagram shows the female urinary system, and the bottom shows the male urinary system. | |
Specialty | Urology, gynecology |
Pelvic surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause are major risk factors.[5] Urinary incontinence is often a result of an underlying medical condition but is under-reported to medical practitioners.[6] There are four main types of incontinence:[7]
- Urge incontinence due to an overactive bladder
- Stress incontinence due to "a poorly functioning urethral sphincter muscle (intrinsic sphincter deficiency) or to hypermobility of the bladder neck or urethra"[8]
- Overflow incontinence due to either poor bladder contraction or blockage of the urethra
- Mixed incontinence involving features of different other types
Treatments include pelvic floor muscle training, bladder training, surgery, and electrical stimulation.[9] Behavioral therapy generally works better than medication for stress and urge incontinence.[10] The benefit of medications is small and long term safety is unclear.[9] Urinary incontinence is more common in older women.[11]