It is also available electronically through GPO Access at the Government Printing Office. Women with bladder control problems should know that these disorders are treatable, says a new campaign from the National Institutes of Health. The campaign emphasizes that many women may not be aware that treatments ranging from pelvic floor exercises to surgery can improve the condition. About 11 million of the 13 million Americans with urinary incontinence are women. The condition can have a major effect on the social and economic well-being of people trying to cope without treatment.
Some elderly people become reclusive or are institutionalized unnecessarily because of incontinence.
Survival rates for organ transplant recipients are increasing. In its annual report, UNOS states that survival rates for some types of transplants are rising dramatically. For example, the one-year survival rate for a lung transplant patient in 1994 was 76 percent, up from 47 percent in 1988. The bad news is that the number of patients waiting for organs is rising much faster than organs can be made available. As a result, transplant candidates now wait longer.