People affected by overactive bladder syndrome experience an alteration in the bladder's filling phase, presenting involuntary contractions of the detrusor muscle which 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 condition. As for frequency, affected individuals need to go to the bathroom more than eight times a day, including at night, which is known as nocturia.
This condition affects more than 400 million people worldwide and over 10 million people in Europe. According to data from the Overactive Bladder Guide by the Spanish Association of Urology (AEU), its prevalence in Spain among people over 40 years old is 21.5%, being higher in women (25.6%) than in men (17.4%). This means that over 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 old.
Overactive bladder syndrome has a negative impact on the quality of life of those who suffer from it and their family members or caregivers, as 65% of them see their social, family, and work lives affected, because they must 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 decreasing 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.
