Women’s bladder control seems to improve with weight loss

The question: For women, urinary incontinence often is a complication of diabetes and pre-diabetes, a condition where blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not in the diabetic range. Might a woman’s weight play a role in this?

This study analyzed data on 1,957 overweight, pre-diabetic women who had been randomly assigned to participate in a diet and weight-loss program or to take an oral diabetes drug (metformin) or a placebo. Those in the first group ate a low-fat diet and exercised moderately for 30 minutes, five days a week, and, on average, lost 5 to 7 percent of their initial weight. After about three years, 38 percent of these women reported having instances of urinary incontinence at least weekly, compared with 48 percent of those in the drug group and 46 percent of those taking the placebo. A lower rate of stress incontinence (leakage during coughing, sneezing or exercise) accounted for nearly all of the benefit; urge incontinence (leakage associated with a sudden, strong need to urinate) was similar in all groups. On average, those in the diet/exercise group lost 5 to 7 percent of their initial weight during the study.

Who may be affected by these findings? Overweight women who are diabetic or pre-diabetic. Although nearly half of all women middle-aged or older experience occasional incontinence, the risk increases 50 to 70 percent with type 2 diabetes.

Caveats: The researchers did not determine how many participants had incontinence at the beginning of the study.

Find this study in the February issue of Diabetes Care; abstract available online at http://care.diabetesjournals.org.

Learn more about urinary incontinence at http://familydoctor.org and www.niapublications.org (search for “urinary”).

The research described in Quick Study comes from credible, peer-reviewed journals. Nonetheless, conclusive evidence about a treatment’s effectiveness is rarely found in a single study. Anyone considering changing or beginning treatment of any kind should consult with a physician.