Losing weight also helps against involuntary urine loss.

Dr. Leslee L. Subak and her colleagues from the University of San Francisco had included a total of 40 overweight women (average age 52; average weight 97 kg; 21 episodes of incontinence a week, on average) in their randomised clinical study. The women were split into two groups: immediately after beginning the study, 19 women took part in a special three-month programme, which involved losing weight under medical instruction (J Urol 2005; 174: 190-195). They were allowed to consume no more than 800 kcal per day and were asked to do up to 60 minutes of sport each day. The 21 women in the second group began the programme three months later.
 
Involuntary urine loss was reduced and patient quality of life improved
 
The women who immediately began the weight reduction programme lost 16 kg in body weight on average (reduction in the body-mass-index from 35 to 28). The number of weekly incontinence episodes dropped by 60% and patient quality of life improved significantly at the same time.

The weight of the participants in the second group remained unchanged in the first three months and the incidence of involuntary urine loss was reduced by 15%. After also taking part in the three-month weight reduction programme in the second part of the study, the number of incontinence episodes also dropped significantly among these women.

The authors sum up the results of their study by saying: "When overweight women with urinary incontinence reduce their weight by 5 to 10%, they can reduce the number of incontinence episodes by fifty per cent and more". In a woman who is 1.67 metres tall and weighs 90 kg, this would be equivalent to a loss in weight of 4.5 to 9 kg. "A target that overweight women can certainly reach", believe the scientists.