Urology Awareness Month – raising the profile of urological health

Posted: 18/09/2024

Urology Awareness Month takes place every year in September. It was established by the Urology Foundation and is dedicated to promoting urological health, both by raising awareness of urological conditions and by fundraising to support important research.

In the UK, urological conditions are far more widespread than one might think:

one in two individuals in the UK will develop a urological condition at some point in their lifetime; and
every hour, eight people are diagnosed with urologic cancer.

Urology Awareness Month therefore plays a much-needed role in increasing public knowledge of urological conditions and raising funds to help develop treatments.

What are common urological conditions?

Urological conditions span a wide variety of diseases which impact on the filtering and carrying of urine out of the body. They can affect individuals of all ages. Some common urological conditions include:

urologic cancers (bladder, kidney, prostate, penile and testicular cancer);
urinary incontinence disorders;
pelvic organ prolapse;
testicular torsion;
erectile dysfunction; and
kidney stones.

With increased public awareness of symptoms, more cases can be caught at an earlier stage.

Breaking the stigma – what are common symptoms of urological problems?

As soon as you believe you may be experiencing any urological symptoms, you should seek medical assistance from a qualified medical practitioner. This will help ensure early diagnosis and treatment.

Some symptoms of urological conditions are easily recognisable, most notably incontinence – the involuntary loss of urine. However, more subtle symptoms, such as needing to urinate more frequently, experiencing pain or discomfort while urinating, or feeling a sense of urgency (as though you cannot ‘hold urine’) can also indicate underlying serious urological conditions, such as bladder cancer.

Other symptoms to look out for include:

urinary tract infections;
an inability to completely empty the bladder;
pain in your lower stomach, side of back or groin; and
pain during intercourse.

It is essential to ensure that you do not remain quiet if you are experiencing these symptoms. A big part of the purpose of Urology Awareness Month is to destigmatise discussion of urological issues, so that individuals feel comfortable seeking medical help at an early stage.

What are the consequences of inadequate urology care?

While it is important that individuals know when to seek help, it is also vital that their symptoms are correctly diagnosed, and effective treatment is administered as soon as possible. Failing to diagnose, or delayed diagnosis, can have serious consequences, impacting life expectancy and/or quality of life. Early diagnosis and effective treatment are therefore key. Unfortunately, this does not always occur.

Inadequate urology care can involve:

a failure to diagnose;
delay in diagnosis;
delays in surgery and other treatment; and
mistakes during surgery.

For example, pelvic organ prolapse is often mistakenly diagnosed as urinary and faecal incontinence, constipation, and irritable bowel syndrome. This is because the most typical symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse include pelvic pain, constipation, backache, and incontinence. Unfortunately, when pelvic organ prolapse is misdiagnosed, surgical outcomes are poor and women can be left with worsened conditions.

Similarly, urinary incontinence disorders, which occur when patients are unable to control their bladders, can arise for a number of reasons, and the correct diagnosis is not always made. Given that the underlying cause of the incontinence is key to determining the most effective treatment, it is vital that the correct diagnosis is made, particularly as some treatments are very invasive.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case. For instance, studies of patients with a particular type of incontinence known as ‘detrusor hyperactivity with impaired contractility’ (DHIC) have found that these individuals were frequently incorrectly diagnosed with stress incontinence. To determine the underlying cause of urinary incontinence, a full urodynamic workup should be performed, and subsequent treatment should adhere to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guidelines (which set out recommended treatment pathways for different urological conditions).

Preventing urological conditions

There are measures you can take to reduce your risk of urological problems.

For example, the most prominent risk factor in the case of bladder cancer is smoking. Every year, it is estimated that 49% of bladder cancer cases are preventable. In particular, it is thought that 45% of bladder cancer cases in the UK are caused by smoking. Smoking also increases your chance of developing stress incontinence, because smoking causes coughing, which weakens the pelvic floor muscles.

As well as avoiding smoking, there are other ways to reduce your risk of urological complications:

consume plenty of fluids – in general, it is recommended to drink at least two litres of water in winter and 2.5 litres in summer;
avoid ‘bladder irritants’, such as alcohol, chocolate and coffee;
patients with kidney stones should reduce salt and protein intake – high salt and protein intake can cause the kidneys to excrete more calcium, therefore causing more stones to form in the kidney;
go to the bathroom when you need to go – regularly holding in urine can wear out your bladder muscles, and may also lead to a bladder infection.

If you, or someone you know, has concerns about receiving a delayed or incorrect diagnosis, or has suffered injury as a result of medical treatment, please contact our team of specialists on 0800 328 9545. We offer expert advice on a wide range of medical negligence claims, with initial advice offered free of charge and without obligation.

This article was co-written by Puja Patel, trainee solicitor in the personal injury and clinical negligence team.

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