Obesity and Incontinence in Women



Weight Loss May Decrease Urinary Incontinence. Obesity and incontinence are related. Obesity leads to incontinence. The inability to control one's bowels or the involuntary excretion of urine is Incontinence. A recently published findings from the Action for Health in Diabetes study has found that weekly urinary incontinence is highly prevalent among overweight and obese women with type 2 diabetes. In fact, during the course of the study diabetes related complications were observed to be common.

The prevalence of weekly incontinence varied by race and ethnicity. It was highest among non-Hispanic whites (32%) and lowest in Asians and African-Americans (12% and 18%, respectively). Compared with non-Hispanic whites, Asian and African-American women had a 75% and 55% reduced likelihood of weekly incontinence.

Additionally, women with a BMI of 35 kg/m2 were 55% and 85% more likely to have any incontinence and stress incontinence, respectively, compared with non-obese women. Risk factors for any incontinence and stress incontinence included prior hysterectomy (40% and 80% increased risk, respectively) and UTI in the previous year (55% and 90% increased risk).

Treatment Weight loss - Losing extra pounds, especially in the abdomen, can relieve pressure on the bladder and pelvic floor muscles. Try out these simple exercises. They are all simple and easy to do. In fact the beauty is some of them are part of your daily life activities.

Source: The study, led by Suzanne Phelan, PhD, of California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif., included 2,994 overweight and obese women with type 2 diabetes.