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When Laughing Makes You Leak
Fast Facts About Stress Urinary Incontinence
For nearly 30 million women in the United States, the simple act of coughing, sneezing or laughing can lead to bladder leakage.
Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is the most common form of lost bladder control and one of the most unpleasant and distressing problems a woman can face. In most cases, incontinence starts gradually over time and increases, often to the point of causing women to stop doing many of their normal activities. Even everyday occurrences, like sneezing or laughing, can place "stress" on the bladder and trigger an SUI episode.
Factors That Increase the Risk
There are several risk factors that increase a woman's risk of urinary incontinence. They include the following: - Age. SUI usually begins in women ages 45 to 54 years. However, women of all ages, even 35 and younger, have been known to suffer from bladder leakage.
- Race. It has been suggested that Caucasian women may have shorter urethras, weaker pelvic floor muscles and lower bladder necks than African-American women, thus making them more likely to develop incontinence.
- Pregnancy and childbirth. The weight of the fetus can press on a woman's bladder, causing involuntary leakage. Vaginal delivery involves significant relaxation and lengthening of the pelvic floor muscles to permit the passage of an infant. Urinary incontinence that occurs after childbirth has been associated with the use of forceps, episiotomy and pudendal anesthesia.
- Menopause and depletion of estrogen
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