Inhaled medications used to treat chronic lung disease may cause acute urinary retention in men. A new study has shown that the risk is greater in men using these medications in comparison to those who are not using them.
Acute urinary retention, a medical emergency, is characterized by the pressure, the pain and the urge to urinate without being able to do so. If the condition goes untreated, then the urine can move back to the kidneys causing infections and even posing damage threat to the organ.
The study consisted of more than half a million senior people as subjects. They were all affected with COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The findings indicated that men who were taking inhaled anticholinergic medications were at a 40 percent higher risk of suffering from acute urinary retention in comparison to those who were not on the dosage. These medications are available under the brand names Atrovent, Spiriva and Combivent.
The risk was found to be higher in men who had just started on the dosage, those who had prostate enlargement problem and those who were using short as well as long-acting anticholinergic bronchodilators simultaneously. The increased risk of this medical emergency was not detected in women.
It needs to be noted that the researchers were only able to find a link between the medications and the risk of the urinary problem. But it could not prove that the drugs had actually led to the problem. According to study researcher Anne Stephenson, clinicians would not relate the condition with the use of these drugs out of their belief that the drugs are not systematically absorbed.
