November 2010
Fowler CJ, Dalton C, Panicker JN
This article reviews the neurologic conditions associated with a high
prevalence of bladder dysfunction and about which significant advances
in understanding have occurred in recent years.
The importance of the
frontal lobes for bladder control has been confirmed through functional
brain imaging, and recent findings in the elderly with incontinence
suggest the problem may result from disconnection of important frontal
areas caused by white matter disease. The very different urologic
profile of the two sometimes-confused conditions, multiple system
atrophy and Parkinson's disease, is clarified.
The advances in
treatments for multiple sclerosis in recent years have been remarkable
and are briefly described.
