Urinary incontinence Archive

A newly approved drug called apalutamide is giving hope to thousands of men confronting a tenacious problem after being treated for prostate cancer. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels should plummet to zero after surgery, and to near zero after radiation therapy, but in some men, they continue rising even when there’s no other evidence of cancer […]

Here are some signs of an alcohol use disorder — and ways to find the help you need if you suspect you're drinking too much.

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The thought of hangovers and binge drinking may conjure an image of a college-age student or a 20-something out on the town. But increasingly, those terms apply to people who probably look a lot like you.

Alcohol use problems often start innocently enough in older women. A problem may begin with a drink at night to combat insomnia, says Dr. Olivera Bogunovic, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. But then one drink turns into two, and a 9 p.m. cocktail turns into all-day drinking, she says.

Men with prostate cancer that has spread outside the gland now have several newer drug options available for treatment, and research has found that taking any of them is likely to improve survival duration.

Depending on how you define the term, prostatitis affects 9% to 16% of men at some point in their lives. The term prostatitis, which means inflammation of the prostate, refers to a group of syndromes characterized by urinary problems such as burning or painful urination, urgency, and trouble voiding; difficult or painful ejaculation; and pain in the perineum or lower back. Although it causes some of the same symptoms as BPH and can occur at the same time, prostatitis is a separate condition.

Treating chronic prostatitis

If you have chronic prostatitis, treatment is highly individual and will depend on the type of symptoms that you have. Fortunately, there are many options, and with some trial and error, you may find one that works for you.

Ask the doctors

Q. Is there any way to tell if you are getting osteoporosis? Are there symptoms?

A. Osteoporosis is a disease that causes your bones to become weak and brittle and more likely to break. Unfortunately, you probably won't have any symptoms until the disease is advanced or you actually experience a fracture. However, there are two visible clues of osteoporosis: changes in your posture (such as a hunched-over appearance) and loss of height. Both of these changes may be caused when your spine becomes curved or compressed from weakness or tiny fractures (called compression fractures) in your vertebrae, the small bones that make up your spine.

It's called "weight bias," and even health care providers aren't immune.

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If you've ever delayed a doctor's appointment so you could lose a few pounds before your annual weigh-in, or hesitated to exercise in public because you felt self-conscious among a sea of hard-bodied gym goers, your weight may be affecting your health — but not in the way you might think.

Even if you're otherwise healthy, sometimes excess pounds bring increased health risks, especially if they keep you from following recommended health practices that offer protection over the long term.

Research we're watching

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Can a high-tech water bottle help prevent painful kidney stones? The National Institutes of Health is hoping to find out. As many as one in every 11 people in the United States today has experienced a painful kidney stone. Kidney stones, a condition also referred to as nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis, are hard deposits that form inside the kidneys. They can be as small as a grain of sand or the size of a marble or larger. Symptoms of a stone include excruciating pain, interrupted urine flow, or bleeding inside the urinary tract. In short, kidney stones are definitely something you want to avoid. One way to keep stones from developing is to drink lots of water. The problem is, people who have had a stone often don't drink enough water to prevent new ones from forming, even when they're told how important it is to stay hydrated.

This trial, which will enroll 1,642 people, is trying to change that by using a "smart" water bottle that not only encourages people to drink a target amount of water each day, but also tracks their consumption using an app. People in the test group who reach their daily fluid intake targets will get financial incentives. Health coaches will provide added support to help participants achieve their goals. The findings could shed new light on how to get people to change their behavior to prevent this common and painful condition. For more information on the trial or to see if you qualify, visit www.health.harvard.edu/push.

Urinary incontinence is more common in women, but men experience it too, particularly as they get older. Whether it’s urge incontinence or stress incontinence, there are strategies and treatments that can help.