Health News

Enuresis or bed-wetting is a problem that is distressing both to the parents and the child.

Yet this common disorder usually responds well to treatment.

Control of the bladder during the day and then at night depends on the maturing of the child’s nervous system. Most children achieve control by the age of three or four.

At five, about 10 per cent of children still wet the bed and this figure drops to about 5 per cent between the ages of six to 10. At IS, only 0.1 per cent, or one in a thousand, still has the problem. Bed-wetting can continue into adult life.

It is not considered a problem until the child is over six. As you can see from the figures, most children overcome the problem, given time. But because of the emotional difficulties suffered by these children and often by their parents as well, enuresis usually needs treatment.

It is twice as common in boys as in girls and is not related to intelligence. Nor is it a problem of our anxious modern society. It is an ancient disorder and is well recorded in old medical texts.

*8/71/1*

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One practitioner might always think that the best treatment is the one that results in the longest average length of life, regardless of side effects. Another might prefer to stick with familiar treatments rather than to try new ones. Others try every new treatment that comes along without first critically evaluating the available evidence. Some practitioners are themselves so frightened of cancer and dying that they recommend that patients keep having intensive anti-cancer treatment even when there is no real hope of controlling the disease. Some practitioners are doing research into cancer treatment and want all their patients to have the research treatment regardless of other considerations. Dare I say it—some practitioners even allow consideration of their own financial gain to influence their recommendations. All that I have said in the above section applies equally to doctors and to non-medically qualified practitioners.

I know it is frightening to read all this. I know you would rather believe that your practitioner is a selfless, devoted, up-to-date saint who thinks entirely in terms of your own individual interests. Even if your practitioner were perfect, he or she could not know what issues are important to you, what your priorities and values and beliefs are. So be fair and kind to yourself. Get the information, trust your own knowledge of yourself and be prepared to make your own decisions.

*18/40/1*

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