Urinary Incontinence and Bladder Health in Women over 40 Years old 

Introduction

           Urinary incontinence and bladder health are two related health issues that have become of major concern in recent times. They are directly related in the sense that problems in bladder health will in most cases culminate in urinary incontinence. These problems have been found to occur more commonly in women than men usually attributed to such things as pregnancy and menopause. Urinary incontinence in women basically can be seen as the loss of urine without necessarily having the urge to urinate.

            To help reduce these cases in women especially if they occur due to problems in bladder health, you can use a bladder health supplement. This article highlights this issue of urinary incontinence in women and how well you can ensure that your bladder is healthy.

Causes of Urinary Incontinence in Women

          Several things come in as causes of urinary incontinence. It should be clear that occurrence of urinary incontinence does not necessarily mean that it is a disease but is a symptom. Causes can be classified as follows:

• Temporary causes

        Temporary causes usually causes a short-term urinary incontinence usually because they contain or are themselves diuretics. Some of them are the common foods we eat and some are the medication we take. Diuretics act on the bladder and the rest of your urinary system to increase the volume of urine produced. The stimulated bladder and increased urine volume leads to urinary incontinence that usually goes away if the substance is eliminated from the body.

Related article: The Use Of Diuretics In Bodybuilding

           These causes may include:

• Alcohol and carbonated drinks such as coca cola
• Artificial sweeteners and chocolates
• Medications used in treatment of heart problems and hypertension
• Vitamin C when taken in large doses

Medical conditions and Disease processes

    Some medical conditions and disease processes also cause urinary incontinence. These are particularly conditions and diseases that affect bladder health and have influence on its physiology. In most cases, they are treatable and therefore can be categorized as temporary causes of urinary incontinence. Common conditions and diseases process that are implicated in urinary incontinence include:

• Infections of the urinary tract(UTIs)
• Constipation

Persistent causes

         Persistent causes are the underlying physiological and pathological conditions that constantly affect the bladder leading to incontinence. These include:

• Pregnancy with pregnancy comes changes in hormones, which may have a direct or indirect effect on the bladder. The fetus also exerts some pressure on the bladder leading to incontinence.
• Age as you get older, tissues in your body also get older including those of the bladder. Therefore, the bladder has little capacity to manage urine as you get older and for the first time, you may start experiencing urinary incontinence.
• Vaginal delivery women who bear many children would most likely have urinary incontinence. This is because with every birth, there is weakening of those muscles, which help the bladder have control over urine. This means that you are more likely to have urinary incontinence.
• Menopause menopause just like pregnancy comes with changes in hormones. The hormone estrogen, which has a role in maintaining the health of the mucosa lining the bladder and urethra is, reduced which may trigger urinary incontinence. This is one explanation as to why urinary incontinence in women over 40 is of major concern and should be highlighted well.
• Hysterectomy hysterectomy refers to the surgical removal of the uterus mostly due to malignant issues. It is a major cause of urinary incontinence because it is usually in close contact with the bladder and are supported by pretty much the same muscle. If such muscles are destroyed during the process, then it will definitely lead to urinary incontinence.
• Disorders in the nervous system smooth muscles of the bladder are under nervous control and any neurological condition involving nervous supply to the bladder will lead to urinary incontinence.

Must read: 5 Supplements to avoid during pregnancy

Different types of urinary incontinence

Stress Incontinence

       Stress incontinence occurs when any situation that puts pressure on the bladder causes leakage of urine. Most such situations such as sneezing will not cause urine to leak hence a reason to be speculate stress incontinence. This type of stress incontinence is prevalent in women since their bladder is more likely to be under stress from physiological conditions such as pregnancy and vaginal delivery. Stress incontinence in many cases is treatable either by bladder supplements or other medical interventions.

Urge incontinence

         It occur when urine leaks immediately after feeling the urge to urinate without your control. Urge incontinence in most cases is a neurological problem with the bladder having inappropriate spasms. People with urge incontinence often empty their bladder even after drinking a small amount of fluid and may wake up having emptied on their beds. Being a neurological problem, emotions such as anxiety can worsen the situation and even drugs such as diuretics. People with diseases such as Alzheimer’s and diabetes are likely to experience this type of incontinence.

Overactive bladder

      Just like urge incontinence, incontinence due to overactive bladder has its route in neurological problems. The difference is in the time. In this type of incontinence, there are nerve signals at a time when you are not expecting to urinate. It is also common among women and may present with:

• High frequency of urination
• Nocturia, where one wakes up at night to urinate
• Urgency of urination is high

Functional incontinence

          Functional incontinence may not of great medical importance but occurs sometimes. It is particularly prominent in people who are unable to plan correctly about when to urinate and therefore end up leaking urine uncontrollably. They are mostly people with certain disabilities and medical conditions that affect their judgment.

Overflow incontinence

        Overflow is a type of incontinence that is as a result of weak bladder smooth muscles. The bladder generally fails to properly empty leading to occurrence of a spill over.

Treatment of Urinary Incontinence

        Urinary incontinence can be an embarrassing condition to have and therefore the need to treat it as early as possible. Treatment of urinary incontinence lays a major focus on the bladder and there are many ways that can be used. Your doctor after determining the type of incontinence you have may will suggest several methods for your treatment.

Confitrol 24 ➢ Buy it HERE

Different treatment approaches for urinary incontinence include:

• Behavioral and training means

Timed voiding and Kegel exercise are two popular means that are commonly used for the treatment of urinary incontinence. Timed voiding involves using the bathroom at certain specific times while kegel exercise is meant to strengthen the muscles responsible for holding your urine.

• Medications

Certain medications are particularly important when it comes certain types of incontinence. For instance, when it comes to an overactive bladder, anticholinergic drugs can effectively reduce the spasms and help reduce this type of incontinence. The only problem is that they come along with certain types of side effects for example, a dry mouth and even blurred vision when used in large doses.

• Neuromodulation therapy

Neuromodulation therapy is another way of treatment of urinary incontinence particularly urge incontinence. InterStim is a device used in this therapy and mainly involves stimulating nerves that goes to the bladder from the spinal cord. Neuromodulation is only meant for certain people and is not suitable for everyone.

Bladder health and incontinence

          A healthy bladder ensures that you avoid problems that comes along with urinary incontinence. There are several ways to avoid having an incontinence as well as getting back your normal bladder function. Using bladder control supplements is one such ways among others. We focus on some of these bladder health supplements and how they contribute to helping you avoid urinary incontinence.

Top 5 bladder health supplements for use

Most of the common bladder supplements are herbs. They include:

1 Vitamin D

      Vitamin D has been approved as one of the major bladder supplements that you can use.

Features

• Has effects on muscles of the pelvic floor
• Also has effects on bones

Pros

• Works well both in men and women
• Bladder is made strong

Cons 

• May have some side effects on bone health

Why you should buy vitamin D supplement

        The good thing about buying vitamin D supplement is that it offers double benefits, helping you not only for a healthy bladder but also bones.

2 D-Mannose

     D-Mannose is a carbohydrate just like glucose. It has some beneficial roles as a bladder health supplement.

D-Mannose ➢ Buy it HERE

Features

• It is a carbohydrate
• Its effect are on normal flora of tracts such as the Genital Urinary Tract (GUT).

Pros

• Efficiently improves genital urinary tract health
• Maintains the normal beneficial flora of the GUT

Cons

• Probable side effects

Why you should buy this supplement

          D-mannose occurs naturally and is also abundant even in some cells of the body. It role in supporting the bladder are prominent and it can go a long way into preventing occurrence of urinary incontinence.

3 Probiotics

         Probiotics are simply types of bacteria that are beneficial and are found in the lumen of the GIT or GUT. A good example is lactobacillus bacteria, which has good effect on the GUT ensuring that your bladder and other related organs are healthy.

Probiotics Imunne ➢ Buy it HERE

Features

• Are bacteria that are part of normal flora of the body
• Come in many different strains

Pros

• Good for balancing normal flora
• Great for supporting the bladder and the rest of the urinary system
• Is beneficial to the digestive tract
• Also good for the immune system

Cons

• Some bacteria may be harmful causing diseases

Why you should buy Probiotics

         Buying probiotics ensures that you not only improve the health of your bladder but also improves your immune system ensuring that you are not exposed to infections of the bladder that can lead to incontinence.

4 Go-Less Bladder Control Formula

         This is a good bladder control supplement that you can use to help you have a good control of your urinary incontinence.

AZO Baldder Control ➢ Buy it HERE

Features

• Contains phytoestrogen which is the main active substance
• Fatty acids and sterols are also present as ingredients

Pros

• Suitable for both men and women
• Helps you have a good control of bladder function

Cons

• Side effects may occur due to activity of phytoestrogen

Why you should buy this supplement

         Being suitable for both men and women, go-Less bladder formula will help you control your bladder, which has been controlling you. It is a worthy supplement to give a try if you have a troubling urinary incontinence.

5 Cranberry

         Cranberry works using an antioxidant activity found in some of its components. The supplement are made from cranberries, which have been tried and are in powder form.

Cranberry ➢ Buy it HERE

Features

• Some contains vitamin C and sometimes probiotics
• Has antioxidant activity

Pros

• Beneficial to your urinary health especially the bladder
• Improves the functioning of the kidney
• Antioxidant activity help reduce free radicals

Cons

• Some contain bacteria that may lead to an active infection

Why you should buy cranberry supplement

         It is very evident that cranberry have many benefits in the body and goes a long way into ensuring that your bladder health is very strong.

How to maintain healthy bladder

      Apart from using bladder health supplements which may be so costly since some of them are bought, there are several other things that you can do to ensure that your bladder remains health and that you do not have recurring problems. Some of this tips include:

• Limiting the use of alcohol and other such drinks such as caffeine
• Drinking sufficient amounts of water
• Reducing or even completely quitting smoking
• Doing regular exercise and losing weight to reduce stress on the bladder.
• Avoiding tight pants and nylon ones to reduce incidences of urinary tract infections.

Conclusion

         Urinary incontinence is an embarrassing condition that has been troubling people especially women over 40 years who are reaching or have reached menopause. It is therefore good that you have clear understanding of this condition so that you can seek the required help as early as possible. The good thing is most cases of urinary incontinence are manageable and you can lead a normal life again. Many bladder health supplements are there to help you as well other treatment options.