Overactive bladder syndrome | Incontinence

Overactive bladder syndrome

In the case of the syndrome of the overactive bladder, the affected patients experience a sudden, unsuppressible urge to urinate. In many cases, the patient is hardly able to go to the toilet in time. Affected patients usually have a micturition frequency (frequency of visits to the toilet) of at least 8 times per 24 hours. Reasons for the occurrence of this form of incontinence can be inflammatory processes in the lower urinary tract (bladder, urethra), narrowing of the urethra, benign or malignant changes in the prostate or neurological dysfunctions. However, in the main number of patients, no exact cause for the development of the syndrome of overactive bladder can be proven.

Laugh incontinence

The so-called laugh incontinence usually affects children between the ages of 5 and 7 years. Young girls at the beginning of puberty are particularly often affected. A laughing incontinence manifests itself through a loss of control of the bladder function during laughter. In contrast to the other forms of incontinence, both the bladder apparatus and the adjacent organs are completely healthy and functional. The affected children usually do not feel any urge to urinate before wetting.

Therapy

The treatment of incontinence is by no means uniform. For each patient, both the exact form and the exact cause of the incontinence must be determined before initiating appropriate treatment. In some cases, affected patients can be treated quite well.

In the case of childhood laughter incontinence, temporary treatment with drugs such as methylphenidate may be useful. In addition, the performance of special exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles (pelvic floor training) is particularly helpful. Patients suffering from the syndrome of overactive bladder can in most cases only be treated symptomatically.A complete cure is usually not possible. If an enlargement of the male prostate is the cause of incontinence, the treatment can be surgically successful.