At some point in their lives, virtually all men...CONTINUE READING
will be affected by urinary problems, or will know someone who is. This largely applies to men over 50, who can make a number of visits to the toilet at night because they need to pee.
There is a reason for this; as men get old, their prostate gradually expands, which, in turn, puts additional pressure on the bladder. In fact, more than 30 million men aged 50 and over have their sleep
disturbed at least once a night to use the bathroom, suffering from a condition that doctors call ‘nocturia’.
But it’s tiresome having to get out of bed each night, not to mention missing out on undisturbed sleep. Thankfully, help is at hand. Dr Edward (Ted) Schaeffer, from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, has shared three top tips to help reduce middle-of-the-night urination on the Peter Attia Drive Podcast.
His first suggestion is to avoid beer
– or any other alcohol – before bed. Beer has a high fluid content, which means it causes the bladder to quickly fill, while the alcohol it contains suppresses the anti-urine production hormone.
Dr Peter Attia added: ” Alcohol
inhibits this hormone which is why alcohol before bed is a great recipe for having to get up and pee. You get the fluid in the drink and then you get a molecule that inhibits the release of the anti-diuretic hormone.” Doctors also advise against drinking alcohol before bed because it is likely to disturb your sleep.
Similarly, don’t drink a glass of water before bed. It will quickly boost the amount of fluid in the bloodstream, which is then rapidly filtered out by the kidneys, causing fluid to build up in the bladder – meaning men will need to pee just a few hours later. On that same note, if you do wake up in the night to pee, don’t then have a glass of water – you’ll be back in the bathroom before you know it.
Lastly, Dr Schaeffer advises that men with any signs of fluid retention in their legs wear knee-high stockings to bed. Fluid retention is more common in obese or overweight individuals who are at higher risk of edema, which is swelling caused by too much fluid trapped in the body’s tissues. Edema can affect any part of the body but it’s more likely to show up in the legs and feet.
The reason for this is that when men go to bed, the excess fluid caused by edema can flow back into the bloodstream and be filtered into the bladder by the kidneys – making them need to pee. Knee-high stockings will reduce fluid retention in the feet, therefore reducing the risk of night-time urination.
