Meditate For Better Bladder Health

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After nine years of suffering in silence and living in fear of leaving the house, Anna Raisor, 53, turned to physicians at Loyola University Health System (LUHS) for alternative measures to treat the embarrassing side effects of incontinence.

LUHS physicians enrolled Raisor in a clinical trial using cognitive treatment to manage her overactive bladder. Cognitive treatment employs deep-breathing and guided-imagery exercises that train the brain to control the bladder without medicine or surgery.

Findings from this study, which were presented today at the American Urological Association's Annual Meeting in Chicago, Ill, revealed that cognitive treatment is an effective management strategy for urge incontinence. These results also were reported in the latest issue of the Journal of Urology.

"The mind-body connection has proven to be especially valuable for women suffering from incontinence," said study investigator Aaron Michelfelder, MD, vice chair, division of family medicine, Loyola University Health System, and associate professor, department of family medicine, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. "Cognitive treatment is effective with these women, because they are motivated to make a change and regain control over their body."

Michelfelder's patients attend an initial office visit where he introduces them to cognitive treatment. They then listen to an audio recording with a series of relaxation and visualization exercises at home twice a day for two weeks. Patients track the number of incontinence episodes that they experience in a pre- and post-therapy diary. The majority of patients, including Raisor, experienced a substantial improvement in symptoms.

"Before entering this clinical trial, I saturated seven to eight pads a day and was afraid to leave home as a result," said Raisor. "Today, I am 98 percent free of leakage. The treatment has allowed me to successfully recognize the link between my brain and bladder to manage my incontinence and remain virtually accident-free."

The study reviewed a subset of 10 patients with a mean age of 62. Patients were eligible to participate in this study, if they had a diagnosis of overactive bladder (OAB), which is the sudden and unstoppable need to urinate. They also had to be stable on all OAB therapys for the past three months before entering the study. The data revealed that the average number of urge incontinence episodes per week decreased from 38 to 12.

"Nearly one in four women suffers from a pelvic floor disorder, which includes incontinence," said study investigator Mary Pat FitzGerald, MD, urogynecologist, Loyola University Health System, and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. "Cognitive treatment may play a vital role in a comprehensive approach to treating this disorder."

Study researchers FitzGerald and fellow Shameem Abbasy, MD, are part of a team of LUHS urogynecologists who are combining the expertise of urologists and gynecologists to transform the way women with incontinence and other pelvic floor disorders are managed. Loyola University Health System's Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery Center was the first of its kind in greater Chicago. It is still one of the few centers in the country that offers a single location for the diagnosis and therapy of women with pelvic floor disorders.

In addition to using cognitive treatment to treat incontinence, LUHS urogynecologists have been using the robotic da VinciTM surgical system with positive outcomes for nearly two years. LUHS was one of the first groups in Chicago to offer this type of minimally invasive robotic surgery.


Posted by: Janet    Source