Nearly one in three Chinese women over 35 suffer from the uncontrolled loss of urine, or urinary incontinence (UI), medical experts have said.

Sufferers may lose several drops of urine while laughing, coughing or running, while others may experience more acute symptoms like feeling a sudden urge to pee - before discharging a large amount of urine, Ma Le, head of the female urinary incontinence department with the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, said at a medical seminar yesterday.

"Such symptoms seriously affect people's quality of life," Ma said. "In severe cases, patients develop skin infections after suffering from long-standing UI symptoms."

A large number of women, for fear of the risk of public embarrassment caused by UI, prevent themselves from enjoying many activities with their families and friends, Ma said.

"Some even develop depression," Ma said.

Yang Changjian, executive director of the Chinese Medical Doctors Association, said the affliction is often neglected by patients and medical staff.

Embarrassed by the symptoms, many patients do not seek medical help and simply wait for the symptoms to disappear, which is totally wrong, Yang said.

Just 1 percent of sufferers seek medical help, Ma said.

"Most hospitals do not even have departments for treating UI," Ma said.

"It is a disease common to women due to their physiology and the result of giving birth," Ma said.

"But with medical interventions like surgery, it is curable, Ma said, calling for all patients to seek medical help.

Raising public awareness of the affliction might be the first crucial step, Yang said, citing results from a recent online survey by media site Sohu.com.

Of the 3,000 people polled, 48 percent said they had not considered UI a medical problem and 51 percent said they felt embarrassed by the condition.

(China Daily January 17, 2008)