Nocturnal enuresis , also called bedwetting , is involuntary urination while asleep after the age at which bladder control usually begins. Bedwetting in children and adults can result in emotional stress. Most bedwetting is a developmental delay —not an emotional problem or physical illness. Secondary nocturnal enuresis SNE is when a child or adult begins wetting again after having stayed dry.
About 26 million American adults are currently affected by urinary incontinence, according to the Simon Foundation for Continence. Some end relationships rather than spill the beans about their bladder trouble; others simply avoid them altogether. Women, who are between four and five times more likely than men to suffer urinary incontinence problems because of the trauma of pregnancy and childbirth, wait an average of six-and-a-half years from the first time they experienced symptoms until they obtain a diagnoses for bladder control problems. Men are even less likely to be diagnosed than women. Rates of women who are opting for preventive mastectomies, such as Angeline Jolie, have increased by an estimated 50 percent in recent years, experts say.