A diagnosis of urinary incontinence may be delayed or missed because some cases are mild and have minimal symptoms. Urinary incontinence is also often erroneously believed to be a normal part of the aging process or an expected result of childbearing. Because of this, urinary incontinence is underreported, under diagnosed, and undertreated.
Additionally, symptoms of urinary incontinence may also be due to a variety of other diseases and conditions. Urinary urgency and other symptoms can be related to many other conditions, including an enlarged prostate, prostate cancer and urinary tract infection. It is important to report symptoms of urinary frequency or urgency to a licensed health care provider who can perform a thorough evaluation to determine the exact cause of symptoms of urinary incontinence....more about Urinary Incontinence »
Urinary Incontinence misdiagnosis: It may be difficult to diagnose the underlying cause of urinary incontinence....more about Urinary Incontinence »
For a diagnosis of Urinary Incontinence, the following list of conditions have been mentioned in sources as possible alternative diagnoses to consider during the diagnostic process for Urinary Incontinence:
The other diseases for which Urinary Incontinence is listed as a possible alternative diagnosis in their lists include:
Causes of Urinary Incontinence may include these medical conditions:
Related medical mistakes may include:
Commonly undiagnosed conditions in related areas may include:
Incontinence does not happen because of aging. It may be caused by changes in your body due to disease. For example, incontinence may be the first and only symptom of a urinary tract infection. Curing the infection may relieve or cure the problem. Some drugs may cause incontinence or make it worse. (Source: excerpt from Urinary Incontinence -- Age Page -- Health Information: NIA)
Alzheimer's disease over-diagnosed: The well-known disease of Alzheimer's disease is often over-diagnosed. Patients tend to assume that any memory loss or forgetulness symptom might be Alzheimer's, whereas there are many other less severe possibilities. Some level of memory decline is normal with aging, and even a slight loss of acuity may be noticed in the 30's and 40's. Other conditions can also lead a person to show greater forgetfulness. For example, depression and depressive disorders can cause a person to have reduced concentration and thereby poorer memory retention.
Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is for a patient to show mental decline to dementia. Whereas this can, of course, occur due to various medical conditions, such as a stroke or Alzheimer's disease, it can also occur from a side effect or interaction between multiple drugs that the elderly patient may be taking. There are also various other possible causes of dementia.
Tremor need not be Parkinson's disease: There is the tendency to believe that any tremor symptom, or shakiness, means Parkinson's disease. The reality is that there are various possibilities, such as benign essential tremor, which is mostly harmless. see the various causes of tremor and misdiagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
Rare diseases misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease: A rare genetic disorder is often misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease for men in their 50's. The disease Fragile X disorder can show only mild symptoms in the early years, and Parkinsons-like symptoms around age 50. See misdiagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
Interstitial cystitis an under-diagnosed bladder condition: The medical condition of interstitial cystitic is a bladder condition that can be misdiagnosed as various conditions such as overactive bladder or other causes of pelvic pain. This condition can cause chronic pelvic pain or symptoms of urinary incontinence, similar to overactive bladder. Millions of patients may be misdiagnosed - an estimated third of the 9 million women with chronic pelvic pain (CPP) or 4.5 million of the 17 million women with overactive bladder syndrome do not respond well to treatment, and may have interstitial cystitis rather than their given diagnosis. In other words, about 6 million US women may have misdiagnosed interstitial cystitis. See interstitial cystitis or overactive bladder, or incontinence.
Rare types of medical disorders and diseases in related medical areas:
The following medical news items are relevant to misdiagnosis of Urinary Incontinence:
Read these general articles with an overview of misdiagnosis issues.
When checking for a misdiagnosis of Urinary Incontinence or confirming a diagnosis of Urinary Incontinence, it is useful to consider what other medical conditions might be possible misdiagnoses or other alternative conditions relevant to diagnosis. These alternate diagnoses of Urinary Incontinence may already have been considered by your doctor or may need to be considered as possible alternative diagnoses or candidates for misdiagnosis of Urinary Incontinence. For a general overview of misdiagnosis issues for all diseases, see Overview of Misdiagnosis.
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