It sometimes accompanies serious health problems, such as bladder cancer, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. Women who have urge incontinence get sudden urges to urinate. This can happen when they touch or hear running water or even while they are sleeping. Some women experience mixed incontinence, which is a combination of stress and urge incontinence. Some women run a higher risk than others.
Stress incontinence affects three times as many Caucasian women as African-American women.
It also is more likely to develop in overweight women. Urge incontinence is more common in women who are older, suffer from diabetes, or who have had frequent urinary tract infections. Both types of incontinence occur more often in women who have had hysterectomies. It's really a matter of finding what works best for each individual. Some research shows that pelvic floor exercises, described above, may prevent stress incontinence.