To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Adult Bed Wetting May Be Treated With Oxygen Mask URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/2A0DA.htm Doctor's Guide May 30, 1997
LONDON -- May 30, 1997 -- Professor Steers and Dr Suratt of the University of Virginia, USA, report in a Research Letter in this week's The Lancet, the successful treatment of a 60-year-old man who was incontinent of urine (enuresis) at night after a prostate operation. He wet the bed on average twice a night and none of the usual medical treatments had any effect. His wife reported that he snored, gasped, and had irregular breathing when he was asleep. The doctors suspected that he had sleep apnea, a condition where people stop breathing or breathe shallowly when they are asleep, causing a shortage of oxygen in the body. Measuring his breathing and the oxygen concentration in his blood when he was asleep confirmed this diagnosis. The doctors advised treatment with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) ventilation at night. This involves wearing an air-tight mask over mouth and nose and breathing in air which has been compressed. The man stopped having sleep apnea with this treatment and he also stopped wetting the bed. It is not known exactly how correcting sleep apnea helps with bladder control. It may be that the part of the brain which controls bladder function is affected by a reduction of oxygen in the blood. The authors suggest that in adults who have nocturnal incontinence (about 1% of the population), "The onset of enuresis...in an adult with a history suspicious of apnea should prompt sleep evaluation" and they conclude that "Nasal CPAP may correct both incontinence and apnea." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.