Incontinence sufferers ashamed of their illness

Incontinence sufferers ashamed of their illness

JAKARTA (JP): Doctors and health experts are calling for a
greater awareness of urinary incontinence as people suffering
from the ailment are often to embarrassed to seek assistance.

Urinary incontinence is a condition where people are unable to
control urine discharge.

It can be caused by damage to the nervous system and hip
bones, a high frequency of childbirth, obesity, serious illnesses
and bladder infections.

"It's not a deadly affliction, but it has a large social
impact, as well as a loss of confidence, because sufferers are
embarrassed if people know they wet their pants and bed all the
time," Rochani, the head of urology at Cipto Mangunkusumo General
Hospital (RSCM) told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

He added that urinary incontinence disease also causes
infection in the genital area.

Rochani was speaking on the sidelines of a seminar at the
Acacia Hotel in Central Jakarta about the condition and the
establishment of a urinary incontinence association.

RSCM, which has the country's only clinic dealing with
incontinence, estimates there are at least 10 million people
suffering from the condition.

While it mostly affects the elderly, there are cases of
children younger than 10 years of age being diagnosed with
urinary incontinence.

According to Rochani, surveys conducted at RSCM and Kariadi
Hospital in Semarang, Central Java, show that 11 percent of
hospital visitors, even those who were not sick, have the
ailment.

"The percentage doesn't include urology patients," he added.

Urinary incontinence sufferers number in the millions in many
other countries.

A professor from Hanover, Germany, Udo Jonas, who spoke at the
seminar, said that as many as seven million people in Germany, or
about 8 percent of the population, suffer from it. (09)