You may be young and active - or you may not. But if you are a woman, sooner or later, according to the experts, you will have urinary incontinence.
"One of the main reasons is advancing age. It's also associated with childbirth and the number women children have had, how many vaginal deliveries they have had, how heavy the babies have been and also with menopause,” said Dr. Susan Chapman of Castle Medical Center.
Dr. Chapman says there are two primary reasons for the health problem.
"The two most common are called stress and urge. Stress incontinence is related to an anatomy problem where the bladder has lost its support. And when we say stress, what we mean by that is physical stress - cough, sneeze, heavy lifting, activities bring on the loss of urine."
The second cause, urge, is also treatable.
"Treatment for that is usually physical therapy to have the patient learn how to relax her bladder, and also medications."
Again, women of all ages and stages in life may find themselves suffering from incontinence. There are some things women can do to prevent the onset of the problem - - dieting, for instance.
"Weight loss definitely helps in terms of controlling urinary incontinence, so if a woman is thinking of embarking on a weight loss program, that's another advantage that she can use to motivate her to lose some weight."
Finally, the doctor points out, there are medications and minimally invasive surgeries that can help control the problem.
