Weight Loss Surgery Can Prevent Incontinence

Urinary incontinence is the inability to control urination. This is usually considered a symptom, rather than a disease, because it occurs after acquiring other medical conditions, one of which is obesity. Fortunately, a recent study now suggests that undergoing weight loss surgery can prevent incontinence.

Reuters reports that a study published online in JAMA Internal Medicine has finally released its results regarding long term effects of the surgical procedure on incontinence three years after surgery.

The team has studied 2,500 obese men and women who underwent bariatric surgery. Before the surgery, half of the women and some of the men have claimed to have been experiencing incontinence. After a year, the incontinence rate has decreased to 18 percent in women and 10 percent in men.

Urogynecologist Dr. Leslee Subak from the University of California explains that bariatric surgery can help improve urinary control because weight loss can decrease the pressure on the bladder and pelvic floor and prevent diabetes or inflammation.

Natural weight loss may also prevent urinary incontinence. But if the individual is already more than 100 pounds his ideal weight, or if the individual is experiencing medical conditions like diabetes or hypertension, bariatric surgery will often be the suggested weight management method any expert would suggest.

Dr. Subak also adds on Medical Xpress that although weight loss from other methods are highly effective when it comes to preventing incontinence, his team wants to find out the long-term effects on the patients after they have undergone bariatric surgery, motivating severely overweight individuals to give it a try.

Furthermore, Science Daily reports that after the surgery and a huge weight loss of 29 percent in women and 26 percent in men, noticeable improvements in incontinence have been detected, with majority of the subjects reaching remission three years later. Even though relapse is still a high risk once the individual experiences a 10-pound gain, the researchers are still confident that they found considerable improvement for both genders. The study declares that it did not yield the same results for pregnant and elderly patients.

Urinary incontinence is prevalent in the United States, reportedly most common among obese women. According to published reports, it affects about an estimated 30 million adults and may be the reason for accumulating nearly $60 billion of annual medical costs. It also brings about distress, limited daily activities, and depression among patients, which eventually leads to a reduced quality of life.