Diabetes and incontinence

More than 18 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes, while another 20 million are considered pre-diabetic. Diabetes is a failure or reduction in the body's ability to process sugar, resulting in high blood sugar levels. Pre-diabetes occurs when blood sugar levels are higher than healthy levels but are too low to be diagnosed as diabetes. Unfortunately, diabetic women also have a 70 percent greater risk of experiencing incontinence than non-diabetics. The degree of risk depends on the severity of diabetic symptoms as well as their duration.

Increased thirst is a common symptom of diabetes that results in drinking more fluids and causing a more frequent and/or urgent need to urinate. Increased blood sugar levels can also cause irritation of the bladder, which can lead to incontinence. Nerve damage caused by diabetes may affect bladder function (diabetic cystopathy) and lead to loss of the sensation of bladder fullness, which reduces the ability to sense the need to go to the bathroom.Up to 85 percent of diabetics with numbness in their hands and/or feet will have diminished bladder sensation. This decrease in sensation may cause the bladder to become overstretched from increased urine volume. Nerve damage may also keep the bladder from emptying completely. The bladder then becomes too full leading to urine leakage.

Some symptoms of diabetes:

excessive hunger/thirst
recurring bladder infections
fatigue/weakness
nausea/vomiting
blurred vision
urine leakage