Lack of Bladder Control and Stress-Related Urinary Leakage
by Maria Esposito for
SeniorCitizensMagazine.com
* Please see editor’s at the end of this article.
Americans have become a people who are fascinated with baring all. It started with the talk show circuit where guests felt the need to reveal some hidden secret to their poor unsuspecting friends or mates in front of a studio audience and an even larger syndicated one. Next came the “reality shows” with their quasi-voyeur like appeal bringing the television audience into the dark depths of the human soul as we watched people struggle against their environment and each other.
All of this is supposed to make us feel that nothing is off limits; that there is no subject that can’t be dissected, inspected and reconnected. But in spite of all this revelation, we still have our social taboos. There are still those little secrets we only talk about in hushed whispers and only with our most trusted confidants. One of those secrets is called “stress urinary incontinence” and the reason it probably has had so little public play, is that it is a condition that affects women. After all, no matter how liberated we profess to be, most of us can still hear our mother’s voice inside our head saying “that’s something we don’t discuss”. That’s because stress-related urinary leakage is involuntarily urinating when you bend, sneeze, cough, laugh or exercise. It is often accompanied by occasional urge leakage caused by a sudden urge “to go”— when an overactive bladder contracts on its own and leaks urine with no warning.
Women don’t discuss loss of bladder control, because it is one of those problems they have always been told is not fit for polite conversation. Instead they quietly find a way to cope and that usually means wearing a “bladder control pad” or worse yet, an adult diaper.
And so it goes until somebody is brave enough to stand and say that this needs to stop. Well, somebody has; and that person is a charming lady named Dr. Peipei Wu Wishnow. Dr. Wishnow is a PhD, MIT-trained biochemist. Speaking with her is like being sucked up into a whirling vortex, her mind racing, her words tumbling from her lips end-over-end in an attempt to beat each other out of her mouth. She is resolutely determined to make sure women know they do not have to live with these problems.
Her Marblehead, Massachusetts-based company Interceuticals, Inc. introduced a product at the beginning of this year called BetterWOMAN. The product was born from Dr. Wishnow’s blending of the herbal healing arts of her Chinese ancestors with modern Western medicine. The result is a product that aids the female body in improving the blood circulation in the kidney area and re-balancing its natural hormones to improve muscle tonality. It also modulates the neuro-muscle function. When the bladder muscle is experiencing continued spasms, you keep having that constant urge to urinate. BetterWOMAN helps the bladder muscle to calm down and as it calms, the persistent urge disappears. The best part of all of this is that there are no side effects.
BetterWOMAN was tested for its effectiveness in four major areas: urinary function, sexual function, energy levels and menopausal related symptoms. Conducting the study were: Lawrence Dorman, Doctor of Osteopathy, Applewood Medical Center, Independence, Missouri, and Paul Cutler, MD, of Rochester and Niagara Falls, New York. The clinical tests showed that after two months of treatment, women with bladder control issues showed a dramatic improvement. And after taking the product for an additional two months, they began to show signs of increased energy and sexual function. Women who did not have bladder control problems and took the product showed increases in sexual function, energy levels and a decrease in menopausal symptoms after two months of treatment.
The ramifications of such a discovery are astounding. There are over 33 million adults managing bladder control issues. In 1995, people managing bladder control issues in the United States spent a stunning $26 billion for this problem. Of that amount, 43% was spent on diapers. Maybe if the solution comes in the form of pills that can be easily taken, and diet, nutrition and exercise, those statistics will reverse themselves.
Dr. Wishnow presented her study of BetterWOMAN in a presentation at the North American Menopause Society’s annual meeting, which is published in the NAMS’ journal’s November issue.
*Editor’s note: It is this editor’s opinion that every body is different. Find what works for you and use it. Consult your traditional Dr., your herbalist, your nutritionist, your other health professionals and exercise. Be sure everyone knows what meds, herbal and traditional, you are taking; research some more, and listen to your body, it is giving you information.
Vol IV Issue No. 11
November 2003
Note: This is the Abstract of the original article, edited to conform to the dietary supplement regulations.