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Stem Cell News
Stem Cells Put the Pressure on Urinary
Incontinence
Ivanhoe Broadcast News, July 4, 2007
Those suffering from stress incontinence could be
presented with a new method of treatment soon
involving none other than stem cell technology.
Women make up the predominance of incontinence
sufferers, with an estimated 13 million Americans
suffering from some form of the condition. The cause
of this condition varies with stroke, obesity, urinary
tract infections, abnormal urinary tract, medicine,
enlarged prostate, bladder infections, constipation,
nerve damage, or surgery, all being possible causes of
the condition. The condition can afflict persons of
any age but a common in the elderly.
Whenever urethral pressure exceeds bladder pressure
inside the body, the physical state is called
continence. Reducing the possibility of incontinence
or leakage, this unequal pressure balance keeps urine
safely confined within the bladder.
Incontinence can be broken down into four major
types. One common type occurs when patients still have
sufficient control over their bladders to make it to
the bathroom on time, but the urgency to urinate is
frequent. Stress incontinence manifests when bladder
muscles are initially weak to begin with and lifting a
heavy object places undue pressure on the bladder
muscles. Stress incontinence can even be caused by
fits of coughing, sneezing, or laughing, that exerts
pressure on the bladder muscles. A combination of urge
incontinence and stress incontinence is referred to as
mixed incontinence. Finally, a blockage in the bladder
that makes it impossible to release urine in
moderation, nerve damage, or weak muscle contractions,
leads to overflow incontinence.
Stem cells may one day help men who become
incontinent after prostate surgery. Researchers at the
University of Pittsburgh and the University of Calgary
are studying the procedure at this time. Technicians
isolate stem cells from muscle tissue that has been
removed from a patient's leg by doctors. With the hope
they will strengthen pre-existing muscles in such a
way that urges can be controlled, the stem cells are
later injected into the muscles that surround the
urethra. The researchers have demonstrated that 60
percent of patients experience improvement within the
first year. The transplant itself, only takes five
minutes.
Traditional treatments have ranged from targeted
exercise to surgical intervention.
Oftentimes, they are difficult, time-consuming, and
difficult to do without a professional, but Kegel
exercises can be utilized to strengthen the sphincter
muscles and pelvic floor.
To strengthen the pelvic floor muscles responsible
for bladder control, brief electrical impulses can be
administered as a form of electrical stimulation.
Medication can also be prescribed to aid those with
incontinence. Medications that prevent leakage by
tightening the muscles in the bladder and urethra or
that inhibit contractions of an overactive bladder may
be prescribed. Estrogen has also been known to
precipitate normal functioning of muscles responsible
for continence.
A form of treatment called vaginal cone therapy is
sometimes used by women to strengthen the pelvic floor
muscles. The process involves placing plastic cones of
increasing weight in the vagina and holding them there
for 15 to twenty minutes, twice a day.
The bladder can be repositioned surgically in women
where it has dropped down towards the vagina. Doctors
hoist the bladder back up by securing it to bone,
ligament, or muscle.
But with 85 percent effectiveness, the most
preferred method treatment for stress incontinence
among females requires surgery where the urethra is
supported and strengthened by a mesh material that is
inserted below the area.
Stem cells could resolve all of the current methods
of treatment with a minimally invasive procedure.
Surgery could be avoided altogether and equal or
greater results may soon be attained with stem cell
treatment.
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