Focus on OAB to improve the quality of life

  When it comes to overactive bladder disorder, many people are confused, especially in the elderly population, who attribute the characteristics of frequent urination to “advanced age”. In fact, in China, as the population ages, there are more and more patients with OAB, but awareness of it has not increased. The International Urological Association defines overactive bladder (OAB) as a syndrome characterized by symptoms of urinary urgency, often accompanied by urinary frequency and nocturia, with or without urge incontinence; it can manifest urodynamically as detrusor overactivity or as other forms of urethral-vesical dysfunction. It has no clear etiology and does not include symptoms due to acute urinary tract infections or other forms of localized lesions of the vesicourethra.  The pathogenesis of OAB has been variously described, and four possible etiologies are currently considered: neurogenic, myogenic, or a combination of both, and unknown etiologies. In fact, the specific etiology of OAB is not well understood and may be related to the following factors: overactivity of the detrusor muscles (DO): for example, our normal bladder starts contracting at 300 ml, whereas in OAB patients, contraction starts at 100 ml; bladder sensory hypersensitivity: in short, for OAB patients, the urge to urinate with a little urine in the bladder.  Abnormal function of the urethra and pelvic floor muscles: for example, when the urethra is loose in women, having the stimulation of urine will also produce urgency.  Other causes: such as abnormal mental behavior, hormone metabolism disorder, etc.