New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Urinary incontinence

Urinary incontinence is the involuntary excretion of urine from one's body. Stress incontinence is essentially due to pelvic floor muscle weakness. It is loss of small amounts of urine with coughing, laughing, sneezing, exercising or other movements that increase intrabdominal pressure and thus increase pressure on the bladder. Physical changes resulting from pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause often cause stress incontinence, and in men it is a common problem following a prostatectomy. It is the most common form of incontinence in women and is treatable. Urge incontinence is involuntary loss of urine occurring for no apparent reason while suddenly feeling the need or urge to urinate. The most common cause of urge incontinence is involuntary and inappropriate detrusor muscle contractions. Involuntary actions of bladder muscles can occur because of damage to the nerves of the bladder, to the nervous system (spinal cord and brain), or to the muscles themselves. Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's Disease, stroke, and injury - including injury that occurs during surgery - can all harm bladder nerves or muscles. People with functional incontinence may have problems thinking, moving, or communicating that prevent them from reaching a toilet. A person with Alzheimer's Disease, for example, may not think well enough to plan a timely trip to a restroom. A person in a wheelchair may be blocked from getting to a toilet in time. Conditions such as these are often associated with age and account for some of the incontinence of elderly women and men in nursing homes.

Related Stories
 


Health & Medicine News

July 5, 2026

Researchers have identified the brain circuitry that links deep sleep with the release of growth hormone, revealing how the two regulate each other. The newly discovered feedback loop helps explain ...
Some cancer cells evade treatment by entering a dormant state triggered by stress hormones. ETH Zurich scientists have created a light-controlled molecular switch that selectively destroys the receptors responsible for this survival mode. In ...
Some people live past 100 with remarkable health, and researchers may have uncovered one reason why. A new study found that centenarians have a unique chemical "fingerprint" in their blood that sets them apart from normal aging, including unusual ...
A UCLA study has identified a hidden Achilles' heel in aggressive small cell cancers that have resisted new treatments for decades. Scientists found that tumors lacking the RB gene become critically dependent on the protein E2F3 for survival. ...
A new intranasal DNA vaccine may give the immune system an extra weapon against tuberculosis by targeting bacteria that can hide from antibiotics. In animal studies, it helped clear infections faster, reduced lung inflammation, and prevented relapse ...
Using alcohol to cope with stress when young may permanently alter the brain, making it harder to adapt to challenges and increasing the risk of returning to drinking later in life. Researchers also found signs of brain damage associated with early ...
Some brains appear to fight back against Alzheimer's by helping immature brain cells survive damage instead of succumbing to it. Understanding this natural resilience could point researchers toward entirely new ways to protect memory and slow ...
Scientists at UCLA discovered a surprising reason aging muscles heal more slowly. In older muscle stem cells, a protein called NDRG1 builds up and acts like a brake, slowing the cells’ ability to jump into repair mode after injury. But there’s a ...
Scientists have discovered that a common type of stroke may have a very different cause than doctors once thought. Instead of fatty plaque clogging arteries, the strongest link was found with enlarged and damaged blood vessels deep within the brain. ...
A protein called “Mitch” may hold the key to a new generation of obesity treatments. Researchers found that disabling it in human cells boosts fat burning, increases energy use, and makes it ...
A new spray-on powder developed by KAIST can stop life-threatening bleeding in about one second by instantly forming a strong gel over a wound. It works on deep and irregular injuries where conventional hemostatic products often struggle and remains ...
Scientists at the University of Oxford have created a calculator that predicts a person's individual risk of serious muscle disorders from statin medications. Their analysis found that more than 98% ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:56 pm ET