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What's New: Drug Treatments for Urinary Incontinence |
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by Myron I. Murdock, M.D., FACS Medical Director, HHH Many individuals, particularly women, have serious problems with urgency and frequency of urination, urgency control problems, bladder instability, and urgency incontinence. In the past the only drugs available to relax the bladder in these patients included Banthine, Probanthine, Hyoscyamine (Levbid), and Ditropan. The major side effect include dry mouth, constipation, visual disturbances, and occasionally mental agitation and fatigue. Many pharmaceutical companies have been looking for a bladder relaxant to resolve the symptoms in the millions of Americans who have the incontinence. Pfizer Pharmaceuticals over the past six years has been working to develop an effective bladder relaxant with few or no side effects. The have completed phase II clinical trials on Darfenicin, and are beginning their phase III trials in larger numbers of patients to determine effectiveness, side effects, dosage, and safety. This drug appears to be a more specific M3 inhibitor which means it affects mostly the specific muscarinic sites (muscle sites) within the bladder, and not affecting as many of the organs previously discussed, i.e. salivary glands, colon muscle, and iris muscles of the eye. The hope is that this drug will significantly relax the bladder decreasing urgency and frequency, and urgency control problems without causing dry mouth, constipation, or blurred vision. Recently Tolterodine (Detrol) was developed by Pharmacia Upjohn and soon thereafter came Ditropan XL by ALZA Pharmaceuticals.
Additional resources on incontinence are available from MayoClinic.com:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/urinary-incontinence/DS00404
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