Bed-wetting children more prone to kidney damage

Children who urinate in bed are more prone to kidney damage than those who don't, a leading nephrologist here says.

Children who urinate in bed are more prone to kidney damage than those who don't, a leading nephrologist here says.

L.C. Sharma, who heads the nephrology department at Rajasthan's premier Sawai Man Singh Hospital, attributes the problem to three causes.

With some children, it might just be a habit, while in others it could be due to a hormonal dysfunction. A third cause could be defective kidneys or weak bladder muscles, he says.

Sharma will now examine 2,000 schoolchildren in Jaipur to ascertain the exact nature and cause of this problem and find the right way of treating such cases. The three-month long research project will begin in July when schools reopen after the summer recess.

The medical name for bed-wetting is nocturnal enuresis. According to Sharma, a survey has found that it is common in 25 per cent of children aged up to four years. The affliction decreases as they grow and it remains in only two to three percent children aged 12.

If not treated properly, some of these children may develop kidney diseases, Sharma warned.

"This is called reflux nephropathy in which urine infection first affects the gall bladder and then the kidneys," he explained.

This could also hamper the mental growth of a child, Sharma added.