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The Real Reason Your Kid Wets the Bed
The simple cause your doctor probably missed.
By Steve Hodges and Suzanne Schlosberg
Posted Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at 6:40 AM ET
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In the years following publication of the O’Regan papers, urologists and pediatricians began to recognize the link between constipation and urinary problems. But they missed one of O’Regan’s main points: Constipation is associated with a stretched-out rectum, not the frequency of bowel movements. Doctors routinely ask parents whether their children are pooping regularly, but since most constipated children do poop daily, nothing gets solved.
And so, few doctors diagnose constipation in children who come in with wetting problems. When docs do suspect constipation, they rarely order X-rays to see the extent of the problem, and they fail to prescribe aggressive treatment. They may recommend a small daily dose of laxative, fiber supplements, and frequent trips to the potty and call it a day.
Intrigued by O’Regan’s studies, a colleague and I conducted similar research. In one study published in Urology, we reviewed the records of 30 bed-wetting patients, average age 9. Few of these kids demonstrated signs of constipation; all were shown by X-ray to be severely constipated. Aggressive laxative therapy cured all five of the teenagers in our study within two weeks. Laxatives and/or enemas stopped the bed-wetting in 20 of the 25 younger children within three months. Based on O’Regan’s studies and my own, as well as my years of experience, I am convinced that the majority of bed-wetting cases are due to a rectum stuffed with poop.
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[Tip o’ the hat to: fellow Prepster Steve]
Doctors are not necessarily the experts we wish they were. There are no silver bullets. (That’s why I’m writing the “Patient Advocate” book.) Everyone has to be a interested participant in the process. It’s your and your child’s health.
I remember that Castor Oil was a regular of the home medicine chest. “Good for what ails you!”
I remember reading that dehydration led to constipation.
I remember a TV commercial that talk about how much poop was held in the colon.
So there’s a lot we still don’t know about the human body.
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Reinke Faces Life 