Dr. Dean Edell: Welcome to Medical Breakthroughs; I am Dr. Dean Edell. 20 million Americans suffer with Urinary Incontinence, and that's just the ones who admit it. Many other suffer in silence, but there is no reason to when such a wide range of options can offer a life free of embarrassment.
When you live with incontinence something as simple as walking the dog requires advance planning.
Female Speaker: That always had to be at some conscious level of where the restroom were.
Dr. Dean Edell: Even a laugh among friends could lead to awkward consequences.
Female Speaker: Someone tell a joke and you would wet yourself.
Dr. Dean Edell: It's a condition many would rather keep to themselves.
Catherine Matthews-Nichols: The biggest problem with incontinence I think is the reluctance on the part of the patients to seek care.
Dr. Dean Edell: People fear incontinence might make them seam old or unattractive, but there is plenty help available when you and your doctor know what you are dealing with. The most common form is Stress Incontinence.
Niall Galloway: That's the time the bladder controlled problem with leakage occurs with even slight coughing, or sneezing, or laughing, or lifting.
Dr. Dean Edell: Women first notice signs of incontinence after childbirth, menopause or as they age and while it occurs twice as often in women, men are not immune.
Jay Motola: That was commonly in men we would see it after operations such as out of prosthetic surgery for cancer.
Dr. Dean Edell: The second most common Urge Incontinence is associated with overactive bladder. We also see it in patients with neurological diseases.
Jay Motola: Patients who had strokes, patients who have had multiple sclerosis, diabetics are patients also have a and Urge Incontinence and Urgency Syndrome.
Dr. Dean Edell: With Urge Incontinence bladder muscles don't contract properly, and while we hear a lot about drugs for overactive bladder.
Deinse Elser: There are no medications that are FDA approved in the US to treat Stress Incontinence.
Dr. Dean Edell: The first step to try kegel exercise, which strengthen muscles supporting the urethra and bladder.
Steven Petrou: What it does, as it helps the muscle get a tighter tone, and act as a better guardian to the outlet of the bladder.
Jay Motola: The best time to Kegel is before your incontinence. Once patients have severe stress incontinence Kegel exercises tend not to solve the problem.
Dr. Dean Edell: Another option would be to retrain the bladder by scheduling trips to the bathroom rather than relying on the urge to go.
Denise Elser: And over several weeks going to bathroom on a schedule and increasing that interval has great success with Urge Incontinence.
Dr. Dean Edell: And like it or not you may need to give up certain foods and beverages.
Ken Peters: One of the biggest stimulus to the bladder is coffee, tea cola, the caffeine. Some people are sensitive of certain foods spicy foods, real aesthetic foods.
Jay Motola: There are studies that do show that MSG and other food additives such as NutraSweet and saccharin can also trigger episodes of urinary incontinence in patients.
Dr. Dean Edell: And while you are figuring out what can help you, bladder control products offer some insurance against embarrassment.
Jay Motola: When we start talking about absorbent products, we start talking about really more of a copping type of mechanism, rather than treatment.
Dr. Dean Edell: Bladder protection products different design and function from menstrual products.
Jay Motola: The absorbency of this is for greater than the absorbency that we would see in a typical sanitary napkin. It's for the patient who is very, very mild incontinence patients use these very, very mini pads nowadays.
Dr. Dean Edell: And some are designed specifically for men.
Jay Motola: There are male products that are available, which look like a normal brief. And the brief itself has a little opening on the inside, on the bottom that has a insert, and you could put an insert of small pad.
Dr. Dean Edell: Well products help patients cope in many cases surgery can cure incontinence.
Jay Motola: They come in wet they go home dry.
Dr. Dean Edell: Using new techniques and devices like this sling.
Catherine Matthews-Nichols: Suburethral slings, which are synthetic meshes that help support the bladder.
Dr. Dean Edell: Unlike older procedures this one is done with very small incisions.
Catherine Matthews-Nichols: The recovery time is much, much quicker. The operating time is much, much quicker, and the complications are probably less than the standard operation.
Jay Motola: Success rate is greater than 95%.
Female Speaker: It's just a huge relief I can't express it.
Dr. Dean Edell: And if you thought water balloons were just toys, you might be amazed to see how these inflatables are helping control incontinence.
Niall Galloway: This will provide a permanent solution.
Dr. Dean Edell: Adjustable Continence Therapy or ACT is implanted on each side of urethra through a small incisions in the abdomen.
Niall Galloway: We can then introduce this empty device into that space, and we can add a little bit of fluid to it. The balloon support muscle and stop incontinence. Researchers are evaluating the results of their clinical trials, and will apply fro FDA approval this year. People who are out in the open about their incontinence recommend others come out of hiding.
Female Speaker: I would strongly urge women to seek their doctors advice on this. It's not something you have to accept.
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