In Poland, bedwetting concerns as much as 240 thousand. children from 5 to 14 years of age. This problem is often underestimated, while its mental and health effects can be very serious, doctors said on Thursday at a press conference in Warsaw.
As they recalled, as much as 15 percent. of cases, bedwetting is a symptom of other diseases, such as congenital defects of the urinary system (about 3% of cases), kidney disease, diabetes, urinary tract infections and others. If left untreated, they can lead to kidney damage, high blood pressure, and eventually extreme kidney failure requiring dialysis.
Therefore, the parents of a child who wets at night should consult a doctor. Currently, medicine has effective methods of treating this disorder, depending on its cause – noted pediatric surgeon Dr. Grzegorz Paruszkiewicz, an expert in the diagnosis and therapy of bedwetting in children.
In his opinion, in Poland a lot of children wetting their sleep still see a doctor too late or not at all, because there is a perception in society that it is a matter of incorrect habits or laziness. Meanwhile, a small percentage of children stop wetting on their own (about 15% every year).
As emphasized by Dr.Michał Maternik from the Medical University of Gdańsk, early diagnosis and treatment of bedwetting allows the child to be protected against serious mental and emotional consequences of this disorder. Children wetting themselves during sleep are often the subject of mockery of their peers, have lower self-esteem, are nervous, and at risk of being excluded from the group – he mentioned. According to him, 1 percent. early adopters wet in adulthood.
Experts assume that bedwetting occurs in a child who has reached the age of 5, but still urinates involuntarily and involuntarily during sleep. As Dr. Paruszkiewicz explained to PAP, the reality is that this disorder is not treated until the age of 5. But if parents are concerned that their child is soaking at night when they are 3-4 years old, they should consult a doctor to rule out birth defects, he said.
The diagnosis of nocturnal enuresis can be started at the primary care physician, who should conduct a thorough interview with the patient, order a general urine test, peripheral blood count, urine culture, and blood serum urea and creatinine levels. Each child who gets wet should also have an ultrasound examination of the abdominal cavity to exclude anatomical defects.
According to Paruszkiewicz, as much as 85 percent. Bedwetting occurs in children who have normal urine tests. These are characters not associated with additional defects or diseases. Contrary to the views popularized in the 40s and 50s, they are not related to emotional or psychological disturbances, but to the lack of proper control over the emptying of the bladder. Only a small group of children have a psychological basis when they pass urine while they sleep. It can be suspected when bedwetting occurs at 8-10 years of age in a child who has not had similar problems before.
There are two main causes of bedwetting unrelated to other disorders. This is an increased production of urine at night, called polyuria, which is associated with a deficiency of the urinary-thickening hormone (vasopressin) and an overactive bladder. Both of these forms can now be effectively treated – in the first case, by administering desmopressin, the synthetic equivalent of vasopressin, and in the second, anticholinergic drugs that act on muscarinic receptors on the nerve cells that control bladder function.
These drugs are effective and safe, so that children who wake at night have a chance to function normally. Unfortunately, parents can often afford them because, due to the lack of refunds, they are too expensive – said Paruszkiewicz.
Joanna Morga (PAP)