Lady Problems

Many women suffer from this problem but very few are willing to speak about it. Urinary stress incontinence is the condition whereby a person involuntarily urinates when sneezing, coughing, laughing or exercising. However, there is a solution for this problem.

“There is a large number of women who suffer from this problem, and naturally, too many are embarrassed to speak about it.” Says Dr. Kiran Bijlani, Specialist Gynecologist at Royal Bahrain Hospital. The difficulties faced day to day by sufferers are numerous. A woman wouldn’t be able to keep fit and go to the gym because of the possible occurrence, and some women may limit their social life as they’re afraid that laughing, coughing or sneezing in public could lead to an embarrassing situation. In fact, many of these women find themselves worrying constantly when in public, because a cough or a sneeze could cause them major public humiliation. The stress compounded from worrying about this situation and constantly being cautious could have many side effects on the woman.

On that note, Dr. Kiran delivers some positive news. “There is a way to solve this problem. In fact, some of the treatments would take no more than 15 to 20 minutes!” All treatments are minimally invasive or non-invasive, and the majority of them do not take a lot of time. Dr. Ravisankar Pillai, Specialist Urologist at Royal Bahrain Hospital, explains about the treatments. “For example, trans-cutaneous electric nerve stimulation is a non-invasive treatment done over a series of sessions, whereas Botox injections, sub-urethral slings and the use of bulking agents are minimally invasive procedures. Additionally, Royal Bahrain Hospital also offers all the major surgeries in case the problem is found to be more severe.”

The problem is pinpointed through urodynamic testing, an advanced test that will analyze the urine in order to conclude what is the source of the urinary incontinence. From there, the doctor can decide on a procedure that will solve the issue.

“This is truly a life changing procedure for many women.” Says Dr. Kiran. “Women who were afraid to exercise can enjoy a trip to the gym, and laugh with their friends and family without worry.”

Dr. Kiran Bijlani [MBBS, M.D., DGO] is a Specialist Gynecologist and Dr. Ravisankar Pillai, [MBBS, MD, FEBU] is a Specialist Urologist at Royal Bahrain Hospital. To book your appointment, call 17246800 and visit www.royalbahrainhospital.com for more information.

Urodynamic Testing

Royal Bahrain Hospital has the latest Urodynamic Testing Machine. This machine allows doctors to test how well the bladder and urethra are performing their job of storing and releasing urine.

Urodynamic testing is a minimally invasive test. This test helps understand the behavior of a person’s bladder. It will look at how well the bladder stores urine and how it gets rid of it. The test can help find out what is causing bladder problems. These problems include urinary incontinence. Urinary incontinence is when urine leaks out of the bladder unintentionally. This can happen when a person coughs, sneezes, laughs or exercises. Meanwhile urgency incontinence when you have a strong, sudden urge to pass urine but can’t get to the toilet in time or in some cases a mix of both types of incontinence. Urodynamic testing can help to find out a weak bladder in diabetic patients. This machine at Royal Bahrain Hospital will be very helpful to the department and community.

For information and appointments book an appointment with Dr. Ravisankar. G. Pillai (Specialist Urologist) by calling 17246800 or visiting www.royalbahrainhospital.com. For more articles about urology visit www.urologyrbh.blogspot.com

A Leaky Problem

There are many illnesses that people feel embarrassed to discuss or resolve. Urinary incontinence is one of them, whereby the person experiences loss of bladder control. This can range from leaking a small amount of urine when coughing or laughing, to having very strong urges to urinate, that are difficult to control. According to Dr. Ravisankar Pillai, Specialist Urologist at Royal Bahrain Hospital “This is a particularly distressful urological disorder and approximately 30-40% of women above 50 years of age have incontinence in one form or another. However, less than 20 % of these women consult a doctor owing to social inertia.” The frustration and degraded quality of life will have psychological effects on a person such as depression or low self-esteem, so it is important to get this issue resolved.

“There are two primary forms of incontinence. One is stress incontinence and the other is urgency incontinence, and in some cases you see a combination of the two.” Says Dr. Ravisakar. “The treatment depends on what's causing the problem and what type of incontinence you have. If your urinary incontinence is caused by a medical problem, the incontinence will go away when the problem is treated. Medicine, Kegel exercises and bladder training help some types of incontinence through strengthening the pelvic muscles. For others surgery is the option.”

He goes on to explain about the initiative Royal Bahrain Hospital has taken to resolve this problem. “In Royal Bahrain Hospital, every Saturday we have a one stop continence clinic for assessment of your problems. We are providing a day case surgical treatment called Trans Obturator Tape .It is a new minimally invasive operation performed to correct stress urinary incontinence (SUI). It utilizes the concept of providing support for the urethra which has been shown to cure SUI in 90% cases.”

Additionally, Royal Bahrain Hospital also provides laser treatment for prostate and kidney stones, microscopic varicocelectomy treatment for male infertility. The expert urology team is available for key hole and no hole surgeries, which has the advantages of minimal bleeding, minimal pain and fast recovery.

Dr. Ravisankar Pillai [MBBS, MD, FEBU] is a Specialist Urologist at Royal Bahrain Hospital. For more interesting articles, visit www.urologyrbh.blogspot.com

To book your appointment, call 1724 6800 or plan your visit at www.royalbahrainhospital.com

Googling Illness

Increasing numbers of people using the internet to diagnose themselves poses serious health risks. Websites such as WebMD receive around 30 million users a month. According to the Bupa Health Pulse survey, about 58% of people self-diagnose using online information.

However, only 25% of these people checked to see if the information they were reading was correct. Detrimental effects may occur when taking treatment advice from a non-certified online source, possibly leading to either of two scenarios. The first is following an incorrect treatment, such as applying random ‘remedies’ on infections, which may aggravate the medical condition further. The second is that the treatment followed is for one illness when you could be undergoing another, which unwillingly delays the time to get treatment, or may arbitrarily worsen the undiagnosed medical condition.

Additionally, many tend to believe they have the worst condition. Usually many common complaints show a myriad of illnesses, and some people may unjustifiably jump to the worst conclusion. This causes people to suffer anxiety and waste time and money on unnecessary tests or treatments, says the British Medical Association. On the reverse side, a person may mistake a serious illness for a mild one, like kidney stones as mere indigestion, and may continue to ignore it until it starts to affect their daily lives.

Dr. Ravisankar Pillai, Specialist Urologist, states that although many understand the information, many don’t know how to analyze it. He likens that situation to a story by Ernest Hemmingway, where a boy believes he will die from a fever of 102 degrees since doesn’t realize is that it’s in Fahrenheit.  Having medical knowledge and knowing how to apply are what differentiate a doctor from a regular person.

If it helps, you may even bring the information read online to the consultation, where the doctor will help clarify which parts may have been non-factual. Dr. Amr Rashad, Specialist Radiologist says that showing a doctor what you fear is your condition can help them select the right tests to clear away your fears or to detect a problem early in the process.

To schedule an appointment at Royal Bahrain Hospital, call 1724 6800.

Laser Away!

The prostate is a walnut-sized gland located between the bladder and the penis. The prostate is just in front of the rectum. The urethra runs through the center of the prostate, from the bladder to the penis, letting urine flow out of the body. The prostate secretes fluid that nourishes and protects sperm. During ejaculation, the prostate squeezes this fluid into the urethra, and it’s expelled with sperm as semen.

As men get older the prostate starts growing causing difficulty in urination. Usually medications may help in treatment of the prostate related problems. Different surgical treatments are available to treat patients with prostate problem in whom medical therapy has failed or is not tolerated because of adverse effects.

In the past 5 years, many less invasive procedures have been introduced in the west. The Royal Bahrain Hospital is proud to introduce one such laser treatment for prostate, the only of this kind in Bahrain and entire middle east. These procedures can be performed with general, spinal, epidural, or conscious sedation or local anesthesia. They are usually performed on an outpatient basis in the hospital or even in the office. This is safe, effective and a minimal invasive surgical treatment for benign prostate diseases. Urination is significantly improved and symptoms are reduced. The results are comparable or even better with the results achieved with old surgical techniques. The advantages are the no bleeding, minimal morbidity, no need for prolonged postoperative catheter drainage and the occurrence of less postoperative irritative symptoms.

Dr. Ravisankar Pillai, [MBBS, MD, FEBU] is a Specialist Urologist at Royal Bahrain Hospital. For more information or to book your appointment, call 1724 6800 or plan your visit at www.royalbahrainhospital.com.

Stone's Throw of Pain

When it comes to painful conditions, kidney stones are the worst after a heart attack. The pain that you feel will be so bad that you might think that you are close to dying.

Kidney Stone Pains are cramping pains and commonly felt in the lower back and sometimes radiating to the lower abdomen and groin. It is sometimes mistaken for a simple back problem. Some people experience nausea and vomiting along with the pain. In some cases, you might notice blood mixed in with your urine. Besides pain, kidney stones can cause blockage of urine leading to infection and multi-organ failure.

The Royal Bahrain Hospital’s 24 hour clinic and emergency room has the expertise and excellent facilities to manage the pain within no time. The Urology team will take over and provide the definitive treatment using the high- end technologies available in the hospital such as laser and flexible endoscopy.

Think of it: No More surgeries for stones, just laser it out and say “Goodbye pain”!

Dr. Ravisankar Pillai, [MBBS, MD, FEBU] is a Specialist Urologist at Royal Bahrain Hospital. For more information or to book your appointment, call 1724 6800 or plan your visit at www.royalbahrainhospital.com.

Curing Infertility

Infertility can be primarily defined as when a couple is unable to achieve a pregnancy after one year of unprotected intercourse. Approximately 15% of couples attempting their first pregnancy meet with failure. The male factor is at least partly responsible in about 50% of infertile couples.

It is very important to know that infertility is a couple’s problem and the evaluation and treatment of infertility considers the couple as a unit. They advise to young couples will be  to have a workup as soon as one year of unprotected sexual contact is over without success or in cases where the female partner is above 35 we suggest having the evaluation done after 6 months.

This initial evaluation shall be a simple semen analysis. The common conditions we see in the clinic are decrease in a sperm count, decrease in sperm motility or abnormalities of sperm morphology. The semen sometimes can also have infection like the urine which may indirectly affect the quality of semen.

The brain is an integrative center of the reproductive axis and regulates the production and secretion of hormones which stimulate testis to produce sperms and testosterone. In individuals with abnormalities at brain level or testes level the sperm production may be abnormal.

A common treatable cause of infertility is varicocele.Varicocele is a mass of enlarged and swollen veins that develops in the spermatic cord within the scrotal sac which causes a progressive time-dependent decline in semen quality. The normal testes are kept outside the body to maintain a 2 degree temperature lower than the body temperature. But in varicocele the venous blood pools around the testes causing defect in temperature regulation and also causes toxins to pool around which affects the semen quality. surgical treatment is the only option and In RBH we are providing a keyhole varicocelectomy.

About 50% of men who undergo varicocelectomy to correct infertility father children within the first year.

 Dr. Ravisankar Pillai, [MBBS, MD, FEBU] is a Specialist Urologist at Royal Bahrain Hospital. For more information or to book your appointment, call 1724 6800 or plan your visit at www.royalbahrainhospital.com.

Know Your Prostate or it might Gnaw You

The prostate is a glandular organ present only in males. It is normally 20 cc in size and lies at the neck of the bladder and in front of the rectum. It surrounds the urethra, which is a tubular structure that carries sperm and urine out of the penis. The job of prostate is to produce a thin, milky fluid that will make the ejaculate liquefy.

Prostate can get enlarged as we get older. The growth can be a noncancerous condition called benign prostatic hypertrophy that causes urinary symptoms or it can be cancer occurs when normal cells undergo a transformation in which they grow and multiply without normal controls. The top 4 cancers of males in Bahrain are Bladder cancer, Prostate cancer, Lung cancer and Leukemia.

The cause of prostate cancer is unknown, but hormonal, genetic, environmental, and dietary factors are thought to play roles. Most prostate cancers initially are silent and have no symptoms. It has to be detected by active examination before it gnaws you. Prostate cancers are discovered by doing regular health examination like digital rectal exam and a blood test called prostate specific antigen blood test. If the clinical examination and blood test are abnormal you may need a biopsy to confirm prostate cancer.

The usual symptoms associated with prostate enlargement are difficulty in starting the urinary stream, increase in frequency of urination, pain while urinating, intermittent streams, night time urination, urine leakage, sense of incomplete emptying, blood in urine, painful ejaculation.

All the major International health agencies like European and American cancer societies recommend annual screening for men over the age of 50 yrs. and over the age of 45 yrs. those with a family history of prostate cancer.

Dr. Ravisankar Pillai, [MBBS, MD, FEBU] is a Specialist Urologist at Royal Bahrain Hospital. For more information or to book your appointment, call 1724 6800 or plan your visit at www.royalbahrainhospital.com.