Risk Factors Who Is More At Risk For Developing Incontinence

Are you at risk for developing Incontinence? Incontinence is a potentially embarrassing medical condition that can make life more difficult than it has to be. How do you know if you are at risk for developing incontinence? Here are some of the most common risk factors that researchers have discovered. Fortunately, many of these risk factors are things that you can control in your everyday life.

Your Sex – By far this is one of the most telling risk factors. Researchers have long noted that women are much more likely to develop some form of incontinence. Women are in fact two times more likely to develop some form of incontinence than men are. Of course, this makes some amount of sense. After all, only women can experience pregnancy and childbirth, as well as menopause. Female anatomy accounts for the reason why women are more likely to suffer from some form of incontinence. However, this does not mean that men cannot develop some form of incontinence. In fact, many men, especially those with some kind of prostate gland problem, are at risk of developing incontinence.

Your Weight – Another key risk factor for developing incontinence is your weight. Being overweight or obese puts you at a much larger risk for developing some form of incontinence. This makes sense when you consider that being overweight puts more pressure on the muscles around your bladder. The pressure caused by excess weight can be responsible for causing those muscles to become weak, and thus, making them more susceptible to allowing urine to leak out at moments of slight pressure, such as a sneeze or cough.

Your Age – By far, one of the key risk factors for incontinence is your age. The muscles surrounding your bladder tend to lose muscle tone as you age. This is a normal process that can cause the urethra and bladder to lose their tone and strength. Fortunately, merely getting older does not mean that you will eventually become incontinent.

You Participation in High Impact Sports – Another risk factor for developing incontinence are attributed to your participation in high impact sports. High impact sports which can contribute to the onset of incontinence include gymnastics, running, and basketball. All of these high impact sports are known to put strong and sudden pressure on your bladder. This can cause a type of incontinence. Fortunately, this form of incontinence is thought to be temporary and no link has been proven between high impact sports and long-term chronic incontinence.

Your Smoking Habits – Are you a chronic smoker with a chronic cough? If so, you are definitely at a greater risk of developing incontinence. Researchers have shown a link between a chronic smoker's cough and episodes of chronic incontinence. They have shown that smokers who cough constantly can put added stress on their urinary sphincter. It is believed that long-term smokers are more prone to developing stress incontinence that is caused by putting constant stress on their urinary sphincter due to excessive and long-term smoker's cough.

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