Men who consume the most caffeine are twice as likely to suffer incontinence than those who drink the least
The amount of caffeine typically found in two cups of coffee could exacerbate, if not cause, male incontinence.
New research suggests men who consume the most caffeine are more likely to have the problem than those who drank the least.
Published in The Journal of Urology, it suggests caffeine may irritate the bladder, if not causing then exacerbating the problem.
Plenty of research has linked caffeine to incontinence among women. But little is known about whether there is a similar connection for men.
'We wanted to see if caffeine had an impact on them as well,' said Dr. Alayne Markland, the study's senior author, from the University of Alabama, told Reuters Health.
The NHS estimates that up to six million people in the UK have some degree of urinary incontinence.
Dr Markland's team used responses from about 4,000 men to a national health survey between 2005 and 2008.
The researchers looked at how many had urinary incontinence and how much caffeine they ate or drank, as well as how much water they took in from both foods and drinks.
Overall, the men consumed an average of 169 milligrams of caffeine every day. The average cup of coffee contains around 125mg.
About 13 percent of the men reported leaky bladder, but only 4.5 per cent had a problem considered moderate or severe - which is more than a few drops of urine leakage during the course of a month.
It's thought caffeine may irritate the bladder, if not causing then exacerbating incontinence
After adjusting for the men's age and other risk factors, the researchers found that those who ate or drank 234mg of caffeine a day were 72 per cent more likely to have moderate to severe urinary incontinence than those who consumed the least caffeine.
Men who downed more than 392mg of caffeine daily were more than twice as likely to be incontinent.
Dr Markland said it was not simply a matter of how much fluid a person took in.
That's because total water intake, in contrast, was not linked to a man's risk of moderate to severe incontinence. This has led to the theory that caffeine irritates the bladder in some way.
She added: 'It's something to consider... People who are having problems with urinary incontinence should modify their caffeine intake.'
Dr. Bryan Voelzke, from the Department of Urology at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, said the medications men take, such as diuretics (which increase the frequency of urination) could also affect their bladder control.
'I think the findings are interesting,' he said. 'But this study on its own is not enough to say caffeine is the source of urinary incontinence.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2263460/Male-incontinence-caused-drinking-just-cups-coffee-day.html#ixzz2ICBIYsSy
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