Bladder & Bowel Archive

Articles

Silent urinary infections, serious consequences

Why it's vital to know the causes and symptoms of urinary tract infections and how to treat and prevent them.

Unrecognized and untreated urinary tract infections (UTIs) can quickly turn into more serious conditions. Among young and middle-aged adults, UTIs are more likely to strike women than men. But UTIs also occur often in older men. In both older men and women, the symptoms of a UTI may not be so obvious as they are in young women.

Ask the doctor: Do I need hemorrhoid surgery?

Q. I have bleeding hemorrhoids, and my doctor recommends surgery. How do I know if this is really necessary?

A. The symptoms of itching, rectal pain, and bleeding of hemorrhoids can be very uncomfortable. Yet surgery is rarely the first treatment. Most hemorrhoids can be managed with conservative measures. Try boosting the fiber and fluid in your diet and getting regular exercise to stimulate bowel function. If possible, move your bowels whenever you feel the urge. Use a wet cloth or wipe and pat dry after a bowel movement to avoid irritating inflamed skin. Sit in a warm-water sitz bath to ease discomfort. Over-the-counter hemorrhoid products, including witch-hazel wipes (Tucks) and analgesic creams, can provide temporary relief.

What you can do about incontinence

Getting past the embarrassment is the first step in treating involuntary urine leakage.

You're laughing at a friend's joke, when suddenly—to your great embarrassment—you feel a warm trickle of liquid between your legs. Or, you're eating at a restaurant when you feel a sudden urge to go, but you can't get to the bathroom in time.

Botox as effective as oral medication for overactive bladder

Botox injections work just as well as oral anticholinergic medicines in reducing urge incontinence, although side effects of the two treatments can differ. This study suggests that Botox might be a first-line treatment option for incontinence.

Backed-up bowels? Don't get stuck on daily "regularity"

The sign of bowel health is ease and comfort—not necessarily having a bowel movement every day.

Bowel movements are part of the daily rhythm of life. But as the decades march on, the rhythm may beat slower and raise concerns. "Some of my patients are absolutely convinced there has to be a daily bowel movement, but actually there is a lot of variation," says Dr. William Kormos, editor in chief of Harvard Men's Health Watch and a primary care physician at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.

Stopping repeated urinary tract infections

What to do when these common infections keep returning.

Men might have prostate problems, but we women have our own urinary issues to contend with—including urinary tract infections. Throughout our lives, our short urethra gives the bacteria that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs) a relatively easy access route to our bladder. That's part of the reason one in every two women is likely to develop a UTI at some point in her life.

Large waistline linked to urinary and erectile difficulties

Research in the British Journal of Urology International observed that men with larger waistlines experience urinary and sexual problems more often. The study focused on about 400 men, aged 40 to 91, diagnosed with lower urinary tract symptoms, such as frequent urination, a weak or intermittent stream, and straining to empty the bladder.

The larger the waistline, the more urinary symptoms the men reported. For example, 39% of men with waistlines over 40 inches urinated more than eight times in 24 hours, compared to 16% of
men with waistlines under
36 inches. Sexual symptoms, such as erectile dysfunction (ED) and difficulty with ejaculation, were also more common in men with the largest waists.

Ask the doctor: Can bladder training help with incontinence?

Q. I have urinary incontinence and have heard bladder training might help. Could it stave off surgery?

A. Bladder training can go a long way toward helping with urinary incontinence—a very common condition in women. You can easily cope with intermittent incontinence by wearing a pad, but the condition can become severe enough to affect important activities like exercise, social events, and travel. The good news is that many women with incontinence respond to nonsurgical treatments, and bladder control training is often successful.

Colonoscopy now easier to tolerate

Bowel prep is much more manageable, and CT-based ‘virtual colonoscopy' may one day allow you to skip that, too.

Public health guidelines urge people 50 or older to undergo colorectal cancer screening. There are a number of options, but the gold standard procedure is colonoscopy: using a flexible, lighted instrument to check for signs of colon cancer or the presence of potentially precancerous growths called polyps. Removing polyps can prevent cancer.

Botox can help with overactive bladder

Botox, the same medicine used to smooth wrinkles might also help relieve one type of incontinence overactive bladder.

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