Overweight: what effect on incontinence?

Being overweight greatly increases the risk of urinary incontinence. Concerning the respective management of these diseases, what are the interactions? Weight loss she helps reduce urinary leakage? As for overweight, there is a barrier to treatment of incontinence?

Overweight and urinary incontinence

Overweight is growing rapidly around the world. It aggravates or triggers many diseases, thereby sometimes life-threatening in the game: cardiovascular, respiratory, diabetes, cancer, etc. But being overweight can also cause diseases with high functional impairment such as osteoarthritis, varicose veins, gastro-oesophageal reflux and urogenital disorders (pregnancy complications, infertility, organ prolapse, urinary incontinence and anal).

Concerning more specifically the relationship between overweight and incontinence, you should know that in case of very severe obesity (BMI greater than 40; BMI = divide twice the weight by height, BMI of 23 normal, BMI of 25 : overweight BMI of 30 or more: obesity), the risk of incontinence is multiplied by six.

Surprising since obesity increases the pressure in the abdomen and bladder, increases the pressure cough, alters the bladder muscles, promotes pelvic floor defects, etc. All these explanations are consistent with the fact that people with strong overweight often complain of frequent urination, and later urinary leakage.

The question is whether the treatment of obesity can limit or eliminate urinary incontinence? Meanwhile, obesity does have a favorable or unfavorable impact vis-à-vis the treatment against incontinence? We have studies whose results provide interesting data.

Weight loss improves-she incontinence?

In the first case, a low calorie diet (800 kcal) is indeed accompanied by weight loss with a profit on urinary incontinence. However, the benefits, clearly visible after 3 to 6 months of diet, tend to disappear in the long term (past 18 months).

Surgery for obesity (installation of a gastric ring, only indicated in patients with severe obesity) gives longer lasting results with an improvement in all parameters: stress incontinence, mixed, number of leaks ... overall the subjects incontinence rate before surgery was 67%, against 41% 6 months after surgery and 37% a year later.

Is overweight a brake on incontinence surgery?

As for the impact of obesity on surgical incontinence, it was negative before the introduction of the technique of the strips. However, since the use of strips (the pelvic floor for people with incontinence is reinforced by laying strips) being overweight does not sound on the success of this operation.

In conclusion, weight loss is always beneficial.