GAURI along with the Indian Uogynecological Society is organising a walk for creating awareness on Urinary Incontinence on the Marina on September 25 at 6.30am
Urinary Incontinence is the sudden involuntary loss of urine affecting 30-60% of Adult population world wide. Women are more commonly affected than men. It has a huge socio-economic impact with billions of dollars being spent on it annually. Though not life threatening, it greatly impacts an individual’s quality of life (QOL). By QOL we mean, the social, occupational, sexual, educational and physical well-being. Vaginal delivery in women and prostatic obstruction in men are cited as the two major causes of incontinence. Obesity, constipation, asthma, previous surgery and neurological conditions are other risk factors for developing incontinence. A majority of elders seeking nursing care suffer from Urinary Incontinence.
Studies from the West tell us that women typically take 5 years from the onset of the problem to consult a doctor. This is because of their shy nature and also because of the social stigma associated with it. Also, they also think that incontinence is an inevitable part of ageing and it cannot be cured. The lack of Incontinence specialists also further compounded the problem. Many women suffer in silence. When a woman did complain, the most common advice that she got was to either drink less water or to do kegel exercises. Women modified their behaviour like decreasing water intake, wearing diapers, restricting travel, not attending social functions and toilet seeking.
The good news is that it does not have to be this way anymore. With the advent of new subspecialties like Urogynecology and Female Urology, a paradigm shift is occurring in Incontinence treatment. Women are encouraged to break the silence and seek help. GAURI (Guna Associates in Urogynecology and Research for Incotinence) is India’s first ISO certified Continence Center. It is a superspecialty centre which offers day care treatment for incontinence and allied conditions.
GAURI along with the Indian Uogynecological Society is organising a walk for creating awareness on Urinary Incontinence on the Marina on September 25 at 6.30am. The walk is done in honour of World elders day which falls on Oct 1st.Students of various city colleges will be participating. This is an event for a social cause and a sincere appeal is made to all to participate.
Incontinence is a disease which is definitely curable. Help is available. Its time women came out of the closet, shed their inhibitions and benefited from treatment.
Dr. Karthik Gunasekaran
Urogynecologist and Pelvic Reconstructive Surgeon
No 1,Crescent Park Street,
T Nagar,
Chennai-600017
Phone: 91-44-24341055, 243225
www.gauriindia.in