People affected by overactive bladder syndrome suffer an alteration in the bladder filling phase, presenting involuntary contractions of the detrusor muscle that result in an urgent need to urinate.
Urgency, which is the sudden and difficult-to-postpone urge to urinate, is the most characteristic symptom of this disease. In terms of frequency, affected individuals need to go to the bathroom more than eight times a day, including at night, which is known as nocturia.
This disease affects more than 400 million people worldwide and more than 10 million people in Europe. According to data from the Overactive Bladder Guide of the Spanish Association of Urology (AEU), its prevalence in Spain in people over 40 years of age is 21.5%, being higher in women (25.6%) than in men (17.4%). This means that more than three million women and almost two million men suffer from this urological problem. The prevalence increases with age, affecting 30-40% of people over 75 years of age.
Overactive bladder syndrome has a negative impact on the quality of life of those who suffer from it and their families or caregivers, as 65% of them see their social, family, and work life affected, due to having to plan their activities around access to a bathroom.
Currently, treatments for this syndrome are based on drugs that relax the bladder muscles to achieve better control of urination and on measures that help reduce symptoms. In this regard, there are alternative treatments related to urinary pH.
Several studies have shown that reducing the amount of acid that reaches the bladder through urine can improve some of the symptoms of overactive bladder syndrome. The alkalinization (or increase) of urinary pH can be achieved through changes in diet or by taking nutritional supplements, to help contribute to the normal functioning of the body's acid-base balance and, therefore, to improve quality of life.
