Urinary incontinence, or involuntary loss of urine was the focus of an article written by Kathleen F. Phalen for the Washington Post in May of 2000.

An article published in the Washington Post in May of 2000 dealt with urinary leakage common among young female athletes. It reported that recent studies showed that 50 percent of women who exercise regularly experience some form of urinary incontinence, or involuntary loss of urine. It can vary from an annoying droplet now and then to unexpected spurts of urine.

Ingrid E. Nygaard, an associate professor in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Iowa College of Medicine said that "each person has a continence threshold determined by muscles, ligaments and blood supply. When a person surpasses that, it is very likely they will leak."

Underlying causes include infection, childbirth, movement of pelvic organs, depression and neurological disease. Urine leaks in young women are often the result of stress incontinence prompted by jumping, jogging, coughing or sneezing; or urge incontinence, also known as overactive bladder--a sudden, strong urge to urinate with uncontrollable leakage. Some women are affected by both, which often goes untreated because women fear revealing their secret.

Professor Nygaard said that treatment can be as simple as retraining the muscles of the pelvic floor to hold in the urine with Kegel exercises that can tighten muscles around the vagina. Improvement in the reduction of leakage can be achieved in this manner.

Other options mentioned were pessaries, other devices that fit into the vagina like a diaphragm that help hold up the urethra, urethral devices like Femsoft, worn in the urethra while exercising, bladder retraining, inserting two tampons into the vagina to obstruct the urethra while exercising, establishing a scheduled voiding regimen dietary intervention and visualization to control pelvic floor muscles.

Prescription and over the counter drugs like Sudafed are also available. However, dugs can cause palpitations and increased heart rates.

Surgical intervention include procedures to put pelvic organs back in place, however, surgery is recommended only as an option when other treatments have tried and failed. Also mentioned were FDA approved electrical devices that stimulate nerves for improved bladder control.

Other sources of information: American Urogynecology Society, the American Urological Association, or the National Association for Continence,