Overactive Bladder: Shortcomings of Current Diagnostic and Treatment Approaches and a New Etiological Paradigm
Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Aims: To examine the effectiveness of the current diagnostic and treatment approach of overactive bladder (OAB) and the relative impact of cognition on what is currently a bladder-centric condition. Methods: A review of the literature on OAB from the population to organ/brain level was conducted. The impact of age-induced bladder dysfunction via cognitive changes to sensory integration and attention control are discussed. Results: OAB uses bladder-centric terminology to represent a collection of symptoms with inconsistent and often unknown pathology. Proposed etiologies and therapeutic models for overactive bladder focus on the bladder organ, but evidence suggests that age-related degradation to inhibitory neural circuits and attentional switching mechanisms may enhance myogenic dysfunction or be implicated in idiopathic diagnoses. There is potential for cognitive-level interventions and research that may reduce the significant public health burden of OAB and related bladder dysfunctions. Conclusions: The influence of cognitive dysfunctions on bladder control emerges as a potentially substantial determinant of population OAB burden.
Author: Nina L Franzen
Language: English
Subfield: Urology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2945159391