Urinary incontinence continues to be an underdiagnosed and underreported problem, affecting one in four women aged 30 to 60 and one in six women over the age of 40. Furthermore, over 80% of the population over the age of 60 has nocturia. Worldwide, there are over 200 million cases of urinary incontinence, and women have a five times higher risk than men.

In Romania there are no clear statistics regarding the people affected by urinary incontinence. There are several studies that show that about 18% of Romanian women over the age of 40 suffer from urinary incontinence. Although 98% of women who lose urine constantly are terrified by this fact, only a quarter of them go to the doctor for treatment.

What you need to know about urinary incontinence:

• Urinary incontinence occurs more often in women than in men. Pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause can contribute to urinary incontinence in women. Among the risk factors are neurological diseases, Caucasian race, pelvic radiation therapy, surgery on the perineum, pelvis or prostate, collagen diseases, old age, and obesity.
• Weakening of the bladder muscles, overactive bladder muscles and nerve damage can also cause urinary incontinence in women.
• Urinary incontinence in women is common and curable.
• There are different types of urinary incontinence in women, including stress incontinence, emergency incontinence, overactive bladder, functional incontinence, overflow incontinence, mixed incontinence, and transient incontinence.
• The diagnosis of urinary incontinence in women may involve a physical exam, ultrasound, urodynamic tests, and other tests, including cystoscopy, urinalysis, and a bladder stress test. The doctor will also consider the medical history and may recommend keeping a bladder diary.
• The treatment of urinary incontinence in women may include behavioural or nonpharmacological treatments, such as bladder training and Kegel exercises, drugs, surgery, catheterization, or a combination of these therapies.

How to prevent urinary incontinence:

Appropriate hydration. A normal urine flow keeps the bladder within normal limits. In addition, it prevents urinary infections, often associated with incontinence. Dehydration induces an additional irritation of the bladder by increasing the concentration of urine. Limiting the intake of carbonated drinks, synthetically sweetened, alcohol, tea and coffee eliminates bladder irritation. A balanced diet, rich in fibre, is useful because it prevents constipation, which can worsen uncontrolled loss of urine.

Maintaining a normal weight or losing weight prevents or alleviates these kinds of problems. As well as regular exercise, because it tones the pelvic muscles, which prevents changes in the position of the bladder.

Avoid going to the toilet as a precaution to maintain a good tone of the bladder muscles. Urine discharge should never be forced, by using the pelvic muscles, in order not to weaken the muscles of the sphincters. The correct treatment of urinary infections is recommended, as well as urine culture tests, to identify possible chronic infections, especially during pregnancy, after childbirth, and menopause.

Quitting smoking and properly treating coughing episodes can help prevent incontinence or relieve the symptoms.

It is important for people who experience, in various situations, even occasionally, urinary loss, to seek medical advice. Identifying the causes can lead to solving the problem, considering that, if untreated, urinary incontinence worsens over time to advanced stages, when recovery is difficult and complicated, with little chance of success.

Uractiv® Control and you don't lose a drop

Uractiv® Control is a product made of standardized plant extracts, vitamins and minerals, designed to help patients with involuntary loss of urine and/or nocturia (increased frequency of micturition during the night).

Uractiv® Control contributes to reducing the frequency of urinary incontinence episodes. It reduces micturition at night by improving the control over the muscles in the pelvic area and increasing the storage capacity of the bladder. It helps relax the muscles of the urinary bladder, by maintaining the intracellular level of magnesium within normal limits.

Uractiv® Control contains pumpkin seed extract, soya bean seed extract, magnesium, vitamin B6.

Soybean and pumpkin seed extracts contain plant hormones, balance hormone levels, and improve the trophicity and elasticity of the muscles involved in micturition.

Scientific studies have proven the beneficial effect of soya bean and pumpkin seed extracts in subjects affected by involuntary urine loss. Thus, in subjects with urinary incontinence and nocturia it was noted a reduction in the frequency of urinary incontinence episodes, micturition at night and an increase in the degree of satisfaction in terms of sleep.

The combination of magnesium and vitamin B6 relaxes the muscles of the bladder walls, increases the storage capacity of the bladder and allows the accumulation of larger quantities of urine without increasing the intravesical pressure.

Take 1 capsule 2-3 times a day, recommended in 6-8 week courses. Uractiv® Control can also be administered in combination with antibiotics.