Urinary Incontinence Linked To Vit D Insufficiency

Antoaneta Sawyer, Ph.D.

Recently the Cleveland Clinic Press Release published data on a new study that found that the syndrome known as “pelvic floor disorder” is a women disorder that is strongly associated with vit D insufficiency. In the above study, researchers at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse New York found that the pelvic disorder, leading to frequent urinary incontinence, is associated with significantly decreased vit. D levels. The paper was published in the April issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Badalian & Rosenbaum, 2010).

The researchers studied 1,961 women and found that 23% of them, over the age of 20, have the above described pelvic disorder, leading to frequent urinary incontinence. Women who were overweight or who had more than one child were at especially increased risk. The researchers found that vitamin D deficiency securely predicted the disorder, even in younger women and that urinary incontinence was twice as likely in vitamin D deficient women compared to women with higher vitamin D levels. In their proper statement: “Our findings suggest that treatment of vitamin D sufficiency or deficiency in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women could improve pelvic muscle strength, with a possible reduction in the prevalence of pelvic floor disorders, including urinary incontinence.”
References:
http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/news/article.aspx?AID=637248&setSpecialty=true