Just think of a woman who has to curtail her social life as she has to look for a washroom wherever she goes. With one in every three woman suffering from urinary incontinence after the age 40 years, the doctors say that patients complain of this serious health issue. Once afflicted with this syndrome, the patient is not able to hold the urine and she has to go quite frequently to the washroom.
According to the doctors, most of the cases are not reported as females hesitate to discuss their problems with the doctors and land up in the OTs of the hospitals at quite a late stage when major complications start appearing in the body affecting kidneys and bladder.
Dr Anup Kumar, Head of Department of Urology and Renal Transplant at Safdarjung Hospital said: “Patients usually tell me that they get embarrassed going to washroom in every 15 minutes. They are not able to attend meetings, don’t travel, stop going to public places and cinemas etc. Wherever they go, they have to look for the washrooms and that impacts their lives.” Also, younger women between 30-35 years are complaining the same disease.
Medical Science has failed to find exact cause of this disease till date. Various theories have been postulated but nothing is proven. “In this disease, bladder is irritated and starts contracting”, said Dr Kumar.
While the treatment of the disease is easy, Dr Kumar said that first and second line of treatment -- drugs and injections -- respond only to 50 per cent of patients who have to face side effects such as dry mouth and constipation. In the most severe cases doctors advice patient a Cervico Sacropexy-Vaginal Sacropexy (CESA-VASA) surgery on the lines of German Surgical technique, only when patient does not respond to the oral medications and injections.
The one-of-its-kind CESA-VASA surgery done in entire Asia is being done at Safdarjung Hospital-run centre and it has conducted over 50 such surgeries so far with complete cure in 70 per cent of patients with no drugs.
Informing about his recent visit to Vietnam to perform first CESA-VASA surgery in a live operative workshop, Dr Kumar said mostly old females and housewives ignore this problem and live poor quality of life.
Meanwhile, Dr Manu Gupta, Urologist at Sir Gangaram Hospital confirmed, definitely patient’s social and personal life is getting affected. They fear while going to the market and traveling. Everyday, one such case comes to the OPD, he said.