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Question
My father has to get up at night to pass urine several times. I took him to the doctor. After doing some blood and urine tests, the doctor said my father has got diabetes. He gave some tablets and advised to control the diet. My father follows the doctor’s instructions carefully. Still he has urine problem, although it is less than before. He is 54 years old. How can he stop getting up at night to go to bathroom? It has become a real hassle for him.
Answer
Getting up at night to pass urine is called ‘nocturia’ (night urine). This term is derived from Latin and Greek. There are number of causes for nocturia. Commonest causes include excessive fluid intake, high blood sugar (diabetes), urinary infections and prostate enlargement (in older men).
People who have the habit of drinking too much liquids in the night are more likely to have nocturia. In particular coffee and tea can increase urine output.
Excess glucose in the blood can increase urine production throughout the day and causes nocturia as well.
When there is some infection or germs in the urinary tract, they can irritate the inner lining of urinary balder and the urethra. This causes the person to pass urine frequently, but small amounts.
Prostate is an organ located just below the urine bladder in men. The urethra (i.e. the canal conducting urine from the bladder to the outside) has to pass through the prostate. As men age, their prostate enlarges slowly. Enlarged prostate can compress the urethra. This can give rise to multiple symptoms. One of those symptoms is nocturia. Considering your father’s age, this is one of the likely reason for his nocturia.
It is advisable to get your father assessed by your family physician for the possibility of prostate enlargement and confirm that his blood sugar is well controlled.
