Links between lower urinary tract symptoms, intermittent hypoxia and diabetes:
Causes or cures?
Authors Abler LL, Vezina CM
Submitted By Chad Vezina on 9/26/2017
Status Published
Journal Respiratory physiology & neurobiology
Year 2017
Date Published 9/1/2017
Volume : Pages Not Specified : Not Specified
PubMed Reference 28923778
Abstract Bothersome lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) manifest as urinary frequency,
urgency, incontinence and incomplete bladder emptying. Existing treatments
ameliorate but do not eliminate most symptoms, leading to financial and personal
burdens attributable to sustained medical therapies that may last a lifetime.
The purpose of this review is to highlight evidence of causal associations
between LUTS and several common comorbidities, including intermittent hypoxia
(IH) concomitant with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), obesity, metabolic syndrome
and type 2 diabetes. Links between these conditions, including therapies
targeted to co-occurring complications that have demonstrated benefits for LUTS,
suggest compelling avenues of research and also underscore critical gaps in
understanding the mechanisms underlying urinary dysfunction. These gaps are
prominent in the IH field, where an acknowledged link between OSA and LUTS has
gone largely uninvestigated. New tools, models, or reappropriation of existing
ones, especially rodent models, is required to parse the associations between
IH/OSA, LUTS and obesity/diabetes and to elucidate their underlying, and
potentially shared, etiologies.

Complications