I know someone who doesn’t smell very good. He’s still shitting his pants. He is 12 years old and I want to know if it is a disease.
Answer
Dear Arne,
Wet your pants, so a peeing problem, almost always has a physical cause. However, there are several reasons why someone can have a urinary problem, even if they are 12 years old or even an adult. In its simplest form, (nighttime) urinary problems are caused by a combination of several factors:
1) A bladder capacity that is too small: because the bladder is not large enough, it fills up very quickly with urine. The only solution is to empty the bladder faster (either on the toilet or – for one of the following reasons – unfortunately in your pants or in bed).
2) Increased (nocturnal) urine production: a larger than normal amount enters the bladder, causing it to fill up more quickly.
3) Wake-up problem: when the bladder is almost full, stimuli are sent to the brain with the message that the bladder must be emptied soon. In people with a urinary problem, these stimuli are often too weak and people do not realize in time that they have to go to a toilet.
The treatment for a urinary problem therefore often consists of: 1) bladder training (taking in a lot of fluids so that the bladder “stretches” and becomes larger); 2) taking medication that ensures that there is less urine production at night; 3) a bedwetting alarm that gives a signal when the bed or pants get wet so that you learn to recognize the stimuli of a full bladder as quickly as possible. In addition to these basic causes, there are many additional reasons why someone may have a urinary problem. Especially when there is a urinary problem during the day, there are often additional problems (eg in the structure (construction of the bladder and associated valves), a hypersensitive bladder).
Peeing problems are common. At the age of 6, 5% still have a urinary problem, at 10 years this drops to 2.5% and in adulthood 1 in 100 people still have a urinary problem.
Overall, you can therefore assume that urinary problems have a medical cause. However, the problems also have a lot of additional unpleasant consequences (eg fellow students who laugh at them, fear of going to camp) so that people with a urinary problem often do not feel very well. It is therefore important that people with a urinary problem are closely monitored by a doctor and that the people around them (e.g. fellow students, parents) show a lot of understanding.
Dieter Bayens
Answered by
dr. Dieter Baeyens
Developmental Disabilities (ADHD, Learning Disabilities) and Test Development
http://www.thomasmore.be
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