What is overactive bladder syndrome?
Overactive bladder syndrome is a syndrome characterized by symptoms of urinary urgency, often accompanied by symptoms of urinary frequency and nocturia, with or without urge incontinence.
What are the risks of overactive bladder syndrome?
Overactive bladder disorder is a common condition that is not life threatening, but it can seriously affect a patient’s quality of life. Symptoms such as urinary urgency, frequency, nocturia and urge incontinence can affect all aspects of a patient’s life. In particular, frequent trips to the toilet can cause great distress to patients’ daily life and work, overshadowing their physical and mental health, social interactions, sexual life and career development. Patients with frequent nighttime urination can have their sleep quality seriously affected, even causing insomnia. Frequent nighttime visits to the toilet by the elderly also increase the risk of fractures due to falls. Frequent urine leakage is not only uncomfortable, but it can also leave the skin in a moist environment, causing bacteria to grow and lead to rashes, chapped skin, skin infections and urinary tract infections.
What are the clinical manifestations of overactive bladder disorder?
1. Urinary urgency refers to a sudden and strong desire to urinate that is difficult to delay.
2.Frequent urination refers to excessively frequent urination, more than 8 times a day.
3.Nocturia refers to the need to get up and go to the bathroom 2 or more times at night.
4.Urgent urinary incontinence refers to uncontrollable leakage of urine that occurs after the onset of urgency.
When do I need to see a doctor?
Many patients with overactive bladder are ashamed to talk about it and do not seek medical attention. In fact, this condition is very common in everyday life, even more common than diseases such as diabetes. Therefore, when patients experience urge incontinence, or when the symptoms of frequent or urgent urination interfere with daily activities such as living, working, and socializing, they need to seek prompt medical attention.
Sometimes people think that frequent or urgent urination or urinary incontinence are symptoms that are common in the elderly and do not require medical attention, but are simply treated with diapers or pads. However, the reality is that these symptoms are not unavoidable for the elderly, and proper treatment can greatly improve the patient’s symptoms. More importantly, persistent symptoms of urinary urgency, frequency and incontinence can also be due to other serious conditions such as carcinoma in situ of the bladder, making it even more important to seek prompt medical attention.