If you're frequently bothered by waking in the middle of the night to urinate, there may be some simple and drug-free lifestyle adjustments that can help.
If you're frequently bothered by waking in the middle of the night to urinate, there may be some simple and drug-free lifestyle adjustments that can help.
Nocturia is the complaint of getting up at least once a night to urinate either due to a heightened production of urine or the inability of the bladder to hold it, sometimes as a result of an underlying medical problem. The condition can contribute to fatigue and depression, and raise the risk of heart disease and gastrointestinal disorders. Nocturia is also very normal, especially as people age. And not everyone affected is bothered by it.
Current medication options for nocturia include a synthetic version of a hormone that keeps the body from making urine at night, a drug that blocks the ability of the bladder muscles to contract, and antidepressants that make it harder to urinate by increasing tension at the bladder neck.
The standard treatments for frequent nighttime urination include medical therapy as well as lifestyle modifications such as fluid restrictions. To evaluate the efficacy of the lifestyle therapy in preventing nighttime frequent urination, researchers studied 56 Japanese complaining of nocturia who were about 75 years old, on average. They tested the effects of four easy lifestyle changes: fluid restriction, limiting any excess hours in bed, moderate daily exercise and keeping warm while sleeping. The data regarding the urination frequency and volume was collected.
Each patient was advised of the benefits of each modification, including a recommendation to limit their fluid intake to about 2 percent of their body weight during the day - avoiding too much in the evening.
After four weeks it was found that the participants' average number of nighttime bathroom trips dropped. More than half of the patients experienced an improvement of more than one episode a night. Total urine volume also decreased (from 923 to 768 milliliters).
The study shows that lifestyle modifications are effective in decreasing the number of nocturia episodes and improving patient quality of life.
Nocturia is the complaint of getting up at least once a night to urinate either due to a heightened production of urine or the inability of the bladder to hold it, sometimes as a result of an underlying medical problem. The condition can contribute to fatigue and depression, and raise the risk of heart disease and gastrointestinal disorders. Nocturia is also very normal, especially as people age. And not everyone affected is bothered by it.
Current medication options for nocturia include a synthetic version of a hormone that keeps the body from making urine at night, a drug that blocks the ability of the bladder muscles to contract, and antidepressants that make it harder to urinate by increasing tension at the bladder neck.
The standard treatments for frequent nighttime urination include medical therapy as well as lifestyle modifications such as fluid restrictions. To evaluate the efficacy of the lifestyle therapy in preventing nighttime frequent urination, researchers studied 56 Japanese complaining of nocturia who were about 75 years old, on average. They tested the effects of four easy lifestyle changes: fluid restriction, limiting any excess hours in bed, moderate daily exercise and keeping warm while sleeping. The data regarding the urination frequency and volume was collected.
Each patient was advised of the benefits of each modification, including a recommendation to limit their fluid intake to about 2 percent of their body weight during the day - avoiding too much in the evening.
After four weeks it was found that the participants' average number of nighttime bathroom trips dropped. More than half of the patients experienced an improvement of more than one episode a night. Total urine volume also decreased (from 923 to 768 milliliters).
The study shows that lifestyle modifications are effective in decreasing the number of nocturia episodes and improving patient quality of life.
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