Water does little for older men's bladder trouble

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Drinking extra water is unlikely to relieve older men's bothersome bladder symptoms, a new study suggests.

Lower urinary tract symptoms, such as bladder pain and difficulty urinating, are a common problem among older men. In some cases, underlying medical conditions like enlargement of the prostate gland are to blame, but problems in the urinary tract can also cause the symptoms.

With age, for instance, the muscles that surround the bladder can start to weaken and hinder the organ's normal functioning.

Animal research has suggested that because boosting water intake also boosts urine production, it might improve the bladder's flexibility and ability to contract. To see whether the same might be true of people, Dutch researchers studied 141 men between the ages of 55 and 75 who were suffering lower urinary tract symptoms.

They randomly assigned the men to either drink an extra 1.5 quarts of water each day or take a daily dose of an inactive "placebo" syrup.

After six months, there were some changes in the water group's bladder functioning. However, the men had no clear improvement in their symptoms compared with the placebo group, the researchers report in the medical journal Urology.

"Our findings suggest that only a small effect can be expected from drinking more water," Dr. Mark Spigt, a researcher at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, told Reuters Health. "For a larger effect the amount of water would probably have to be so large that it is not feasible."

Though study participants in the water group were instructed to add 1.5 quarts to their daily water intake, in practice they managed to drink only about 12 ounces more per day than the placebo group. That raised their urine production by about 10 percent over the comparison group.

For older men who've had their symptoms evaluated by a doctor and would like to try a little self-help, drinking extra water is unlikely to cause any harm, Spigt said, as long as they don't go overboard. He noted that very large amounts of water -- more than 10 to 15 quarts a day -- could cause a dangerous drop in sodium levels called hyponatremia.

As of yet, no non-drug therapies have been proven to relieve lower urinary tract symptoms, according to Spigt. Some prescription medications, including drugs called alpha-blockers, can improve urinary flow.

SOURCE: Urology, November 2006.