A new study finds that postmenopausal women who take estrogen are much more likely to pee their pants than women who have never taken the hormone.
Reuters reports that women who have taken estrogen for five or more years are three or four times more likely to have bladder control problems than women who have taken it for less than five years. The study, published in a journal called Menopause (which really should include an explanation mark at the end, but doesn’t) interviewed a small number of women in 1993 and followed up with them eleven years later. Most of the women who reported having bladder control issues said that their issues were so bad that they interfered with their ability to socialize or leave their house.
More research into the Will My Hormones Make Me Piss Myself In Front Of Everybody? question is warranted, especially since the study was so small and didn’t track levels of progesterone in the hormone supplements survey participants took.
Other negative effects of hormone replacement therapy include increased risk of hearing loss, heart attack, stroke, dementia, and various forms of cancers. Women who opt not to take estrogen in conjunction with menopause often experience hot flashes and vaginal dryness.
Womanhood: damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Let’s all get spayed.
Estrogen use tied to bladder control problems [Reuters]
Image via Colour/Shutterstock
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