Word: sphincters
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During labor the pelvic-floor muscles are often torn or strained, and nearby nerves can be harmed. Neuromuscular damage can also affect the urethral sphincter, the tiny knot at the base of the bladder that controls flow through the urethra. A woman who had labored but then had a caesarean section is at a slightly lower risk than if she had given birth vaginally. But preliminary studies suggest that SUI is rare in women who underwent scheduled Csections and never entered labor. That finding may be a factor in the rising rate of elective Csections...
...there is no drug available in the U.S. for SUI (those "gotta go" TV ads are for Detrol, which curbs urge incontinence), duloxetine has done well in trials, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve it within a year. It works by strengthening the urethral sphincter's contractions...
...lasting remedy often choose surgery. Approximately 135,000 SUI surgeries are performed a year in the U.S., with a success rate of 75% to 95%. The two most common are the Burch procedure, which uses permanent stitches to support the bladder neck, and the sling procedure, which tightens the sphincter knot. Bartosh and Lynch say they are happy with their sling surgeries and report no leakage, though each had some initial complications afterward. "I feel so much better about myself," says Bartosh, gripping her coffee cup in the parking lot. "I've taken ownership of my body again...
...slow postoperative stroll down the hall, heading for the lounge with the jigsaw puzzles, you catch a glimpse of yourself in the glass door ahead, a shambling galoot in droopy, pee-stained pajamas. (When they pull out the catheter, it takes you a day or two to get your sphincter reset.) This is not a guy whom any woman longs to have sex with; she would be afraid of killing the old bugger. It's hard for a man with a strong sense of himself (He's going deep--deep--deep! And he's almost to the wall...
...filled with powerful acid. If it weren't for a lining of protective cells, the stomach itself would dissolve. If the acid stays put, most people never give it another thought. Sometimes, though, it doesn't stay put. Foods like chocolate, mints, caffeine and alcohol relax the esophageal sphincter--a ring of muscle that guards the entrance to the stomach--letting acid bubble up to burn the unprotected esophagus. Smoking and fatty foods like my Yugoslav doughball can send acid levels soaring...