For many women, an unexpected benefit of weight loss: decreased incontinence

If you are like most Americans, your New Year's resolution for 2019 was to lose weight. But now with spring approaching, perhaps you haven't met that goal.

With the weather getting warmer, it is a great time to renew that commitment to a healthy weight and not just to look slimmer.

Lifestyle changes around weight loss have many known health benefits.

A less well-known, but equally important, benefit of weight loss is improvement in symptoms of urinary incontinence in women affected by this problem.

In overweight women who leak urine as much as 10 or more times per weak, a 5 to 10 percent weight loss can make an enormous difference.

In one clinical trial, this amount of weight, lost through a six-month diet and exercise program, resulted in an average decrease in leakage episodes of close to 50 percent, twice that of women in the control group.

Even better, over half of women in the weight-loss group saw a reduction in leakage episodes of over 70 percent.

When these women were followed for 12-18 months, most of the weight loss was sustained, and so were their improved incontinence symptoms.

To those women impacted by urinary incontinence who are dedicated to improving their overall health by losing weight this year, get ready to count among your rewards a significant decrease in your urine leakage symptoms.

In addition, always remember the resources available to help you with your pelvic health.

An evaluation with a urogynecologist through the Integrated Pelvic Health & Urogynecology Program at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital can lead to numerous treatment options that can help you meet your goals.

For more information, or to make an appointment, visit urogynecology.nm.org or call (312) 694-7337.

• Dr. Sarah Collins, is a urogynecologist at Northwestern Medicine