Estrogen: Hormones responsible for the development of female sex characteristics; produced by the ovary.
Habit Training: A behavioral technique that calls for scheduled toileting at regular intervals on a planned basis. Unlike bladder training, there is no systematic effort to motivate the patient to delay voiding and resist urge.
Hydrocele: A painless swelling of the scrotum, caused by a collection of fluid around the testicle; commonly occurs in middle-aged men.
Hypermobility: A condition characterized in which the pelvic floor muscles can no longer provide the necessary support to the urethra and bladder neck. As a result, the bladder neck drops when any downward pressure is applied and causing involuntary leakage. This condition is the most common cause of stress urinary incontinence.
Hyperplasia: Excessive growth of normal cells of an organ.
Insemination: The placement of semen into a woman's uterus, cervix, or vagina.
InterStim Continence Control Therapy: A therapy used in treating urge incontinence. A device, about the size of a pacemaker, that is implanted into the sacral nerves of the lower spine, where it delivers electrical impulses that help regulate bladder function. Click here a to see picture.
Intrinsic Sphincter Deficiency (ISD): Weakening of the urethra sphincter muscles. As a result of this weakening the sphincter does not function normally regardless of the position of the bladder neck or urethra. This condition is a common cause of stress urinary intinence.
Irritable Bladder: Involuntary contractions of muscles in the bladder, which can cause lack of control of urination.
Kegel Exercises: Exercises is to strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor, which leads to more control and prevents leakage.
Kidney: One of a pair of organs located at the back of the abdominal cavity. Kidneys make urine through blood filtration.
Kidney Stone: A hard mass composed of substances from the urine that form in the kidneys.
Lithotripsy: A procedure done to break up stones in the urinary tract using ultrasonic shock waves, so that the fragments can be easily passed from the body.
Menopause: The period that marks the permanent cessation of menstrual activity, usually occurring between the ages of 40 and 58.
Metastasis: The spreading of a cancerous tumor to another part of the body.
Mixed Incontinence: Having both stress and urge incontinence.
Orchiectomy: The surgical removal of one or both of the testicles.
Orchitis: Inflammation of a testicle.
Overactive bladder: A condition characterized by involuntary bladder muscle contractions during the bladder filling phase which the patient cannot suppress.
Overflow UI: Leakage of small amounts of urine from a bladder that is always full.
Pelvic muscle exercises: Pelvic muscle exercises are intended to improve your pelvic muscle tone and prevent leakage for sufferers of Stress Urinary Incontinence. Also called Kegel exercises. (see biofeedback and vaginal weight traning)
Periurethral bulking injections: A surgical procedure in which injectioned implants are used to "bulk up" the area around the neck of the bladder allowing it to resist increases in abdominal pressure which can push down on the bladder and cause leakage.
Post-void residual (PVR) volume: A diagnostic test which measures how much urine remains in the bladder after urination. Specific measurement of PVR volume can be accomplished by catheterization, pelvic ultrasound, radiography, or radioisotope studies.
Prostate: A muscular, walnut-sized gland that surrounds part of the urethra. It secretes seminal fluid, a milky substance that combines with sperm (produced in the testicles) to form semen.
Prostatectomy: Surgical removal of the prostate.
Prostatitis: Inflammation of the prostate
Prostaglandin: Any of various oxygenated unsaturated cyclic fatty acids of animals that have a variety of hormonelike actions (as in controlling blood pressure or smooth muscle contraction).
Pyelonephritis: Inflammation of the kidney, usually due to a bacterial infection.
Pyuria: The presence of pus in the urine; usually an indication of kidney or urinary tract infection.
Rectocele herniation of rectum into vagina
Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD): Infections that are most commonly spread through sexual intercourse or genital contact.
Sling Procedures: Surgical methods for treating urinary incontinence involving the placement of a sling, made either of tissue obtained from the person undergoing the sling procedure or a synthetic material. The sling is anchored to retropubic and/or abdominal structures.
Sphincter: A ring of muscle fibers located around an opening in the body that regulates the passage of substances.
Stress Test: A diagnostic test that requires patients to lift something or perform an exercise to determines if there is urine loss when stress is placed on bladder muscles.
Stress Urinary Incontinence: Urinary Incontinence: The involuntary loss of urine during period of increased abdominal pressure. Such events include laughing, sneezing, coughing or lifting heavy objects.
Testosterone: The sex hormone that stimulates development of male sex characteristics and bone and muscle growth; produced by the testicles and in small amounts by the ovaries.
Transient urinary incontinence: Temporary episodes of urinary incontinence that are gone when the cause of the episode is identified and treated, such as a bladder infection.
Underactive bladder: A condition characterized by a bladder contraction of inadequate magnitude and/or duration to effect bladder emptying in a normal timespan. This condition can be caused by drugs, fecal impaction,
and neurologic conditions such as Diabetic neuropathy or low spinal cord injury or as a result of radical pelvic surgery. It also can result from a weakening of the detrusor muscle from vitamin B12 deficiency or idiopathic causes. Bladder underactivity may cause overdistension of the bladder, resulting in overflow incontinence (see overflow incontinence).
Urge UI: The involuntary loss of urine associated with a sudden and strong urge to void (urgency).
Urge/urgency: A strong desire to void.
Urinalysis: A group of physical and chemical tests done on a sample of urine to check for various disorders, including those of the kidneys and urinary tract.
Urinary incontinence:(UI) Involuntary loss of urine sufficient to be a problem. There are several types of Ul, but all are characterized by an inability to restrain voiding.
Urodynamic tests: Diagnostic tests to examine the bladder and urethral sphincter function.
Vesica Sling Procedure: is a surgical sling procedure used to stabilize the bladder neck and provide support for the urethra using autologous or synthetic sling material. This procedure treats both hypermobility and ISD (click HERE to see a diagram of this procedure).
