Complex Urinary Problems More Prevalent in Obesity

Complex urinary problems are another facet of the increasingly complicated puzzle of obesity.

A new study has revealed that people who are obese and lead unhealthy lifestyle are more prone to complex urinary problems.

Even people who are older and have a lower social economic status are also more likely to experience these problems.

The researchers looked at the urological symptoms of 5,506 residents in Boston, Massachusetts. All were aged between 30 and 70 and 42 per cent were male. 34 per cent were white, 32 per cent were black and 34 per cent were Hispanic.

The participants were interviewed regarding their urological symptoms, other medical conditions, physical characteristics such as weight and waist circumference, education, income and behavioural and psychosocial factors.

The researchers later carried out statistical analysis of the results and grouped the participants with urological symptoms into distinct patterns or clusters, four for the women and five for the men.

"The cluster analysis method is highly objective and make no assumptions about which men or women are more likely to suffer from these common conditions," said Dr Raymond C Rosen, Senior Scientist at the New England Research Institutes in Massachusetts.

"These results will hopefully aid our understanding of why urological problems occur and how we can manage these conditions more effectively," he added.

The findings revealed that three-quarters of the women who took part in the survey reported at least one of the 14 urological symptoms included in the study.

The majority of the women who reported storage problems, such as needing to go to the toilet frequently and getting up to go during the night.

Women with higher BMI showed increase in symptoms and severity. Women with highest number of urological symptoms were four times more likely to suffer from diabetes.

Over 69 pct of the men who took part in the study reported urological symptoms.

The men experiencing average of 10 symptoms were much more likely to have a sedentary lifestyle, with 54 per cent recording the lowest levels of physical activity, compared with 20 per cent for men with no symptoms.

"The findings of the Boston Area Community Health Survey are very useful for clinicians and health promotion experts as they provide evidence of a wide range of factors that influence lower urinary tract symptoms, such as age, other illnesses, lifestyle, economic status and race" said Dr Rosen.

Source-ANI
RAS/L