Nocturia is the top cause of sleep disturbance

Mar 17 2017

‘On World Sleep Day sleep experts encourage people to understand the value of healthy and solid sleep. In particular, if they need to go to the toilet more than once in the night they have nocturia, a condition which affects one in three adults over the age of 30 and two thirds of adults over the age of 65.’.ⁱ

“People think that that getting up in the night to go to the toilet is just part of getting older, but it doesn’t need to be,” says Philip Van Kerrebroeck, Editor of the Nocturia Resource Centre and Professor of Urology at the University of Maastricht. “Poor sleep can seriously damage your health so people who are getting up several times a night should go to their doctor to see what’s causing it. The good news is that nocturia can be treated so you don’t need to suffer in silence.”

The broken night’s sleep caused by trips to the bathroom can have huge consequences for mental and physical health. Productivity, relationships and career success can be impacted^iv. Lack of sleep can impact all forms of mental functioning, making it much harder to concentrate, remember things and pick up new skills or facts^iv. Poor sleep has also been linked to an increased risk of diabetes, weakened immune systems, heart disease and even some cancers^v,vi,vii. Lack of sleep is also related to many psychological conditions such as depression, anxiety and psychosis^[i],[ii]

Nocturia, the need to wake up to pass urine at night, can be caused by an overproduction of urineⁱⁱⁱ. It can also be caused by external factors such as: excess fluids before bedtime, medications, alcohol, caffeine, or diuretic medications; in rare cases it could also be a symptom of something more serious such as: diabetes, high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease^iii.

Source: Ferring Pharmaceuticals