Botox, the popular treatment for fighting wrinkles, has shown positive results in treating overactive bladder in recent clinical studies.
Millions of Americans, primarily women, suffer unnecessarily and in silence from overactive bladder, or urinary incontinence, as we refer to it in the medical community. Symptoms of overactive bladder include uncontrolled urge to urinate, frequent urination and uncontrolled urinary leakage.
About 3.2 million people take oral medications from the class called anticholinergics, but more than half of these patients stop because they aren’t effective.
Botox is already FDA approved to treat various medical conditions, including urinary incontinence in patients with neurological conditions such as spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis. But even more patients suffer from idiopathic overactive bladder, which means there’s no known cause of the leakage. Allergan, the maker of Botox, is trying to gain FDA approval for those patients.
The new studies show Botox significantly reduced bladder leakage compared to placebo. The studies involved patients whose condition wasn’t caused by a neurological disorder. Treatment with Botox was well tolerated, with urinary tract infection being the most common side effect in about 15-20% of the patients. But they also reported an improved quality of life.
Botox is also approved for other medical conditions such as migraine headaches, eye muscle disorders, and upper limb stasticity.
I’ve used Botox for some of my urinary incontinence patients and they’ve had wonderful results. If you would like more information about treatments for urinary incontinence, go to our website at www.urologyaustin.com .
About Dr. Grady Bruce:
Dr. Grady Bruce is a board-certified urologist specializing in general and female urology. His office is located at 16040 Park Valley Drive, Building A, Suite 111, in Round Rock. For more information, call (512) 248-2400.
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