World Continence Week – Did you know 40% of people with bladder problems do not tell their doctors?


World Continence Week 2015

World Continence Week 2015

World Continence Week is an annual event which aims to raise awareness about incontinence.

So we thought we would share some key facts with you

Urinary Incontinence (UI) is any involuntary leakage if urine
Faecal Incontinence (FI) is the involuntary loss of liquid or solid stool that is a social or hygienic problem. 1
Incontinence affects about 400 million people around the world. 2
It affects about 1 in 4 women over the age of 35
It affects about 1 in 10 adult men
Incontinence can be treated often cured, but always managed.

In past years conditions affecting the bladder and bowel have often been difficult to talk about and thus they have been underreported and under-diagnosed.


Indeed surveys have shown that less than 40% of persons with urinary incontinence mention their problem to a doctor or nurse and this figure is even higher for those with bowel incontinence. Often therefore these conditions have been inadequately treated and poorly addressed by medical professionals, despite the substantial impact on individual health, self-esteem and quality of life.

Because of this, World Continence Week seeks to draw attention to bowel incontinence and to give sufferers the confidence to seek help and improve their quality of life.

Do you know of any resources you know of you would like to share? If so please use the comments section below to share!

World Continence Week 2014 – Some facts and figures!


World Continence Week

World Continence Week

As you can probably guess today marks the start of World Continence Week. The aim of the week is to promote knowledge of continence related issues including the medical conditions which cause them and the various therapies which can help treat incontinence.

Indeed as the International Continence Society who support the event say while incontinence cannot always be cured it almost always be managed, in some fashion, to make life bearable again. Right now 400 million people across the glove suffer from some kind of incontinence.

Causes can really vary. Travelling to another country means you can come up against different bacteria in food and water which may causes diarrhea or constipation. Indeed a friend of mine from university lost 40lb ( around 20kg) travelling in India for just over three months. Other causes could be stress or medications. Incontinence can also be caused by medical conditions such as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease. Interestingly women are more affected than men. It seems 25% of women over the age of 35 have continence issues while it only impacts 10% of men across the board.

As you may know incontinence comes in two main types which are urinary incontinence where there is involuntary leakage. Faecal Incontinence , on the other hand, is involuntary loss of stools or liquid through the anus.

That being said there are loads of useful tips for dealing with continence issues. Do you have any you would like to share with our readers. If so please feel free to add you suggestions to our comments boxes below.

Many thanks in advance.