By Elizabeth Mwai
There exists confusion as to whether one should immediately answer a call of nature or wait for a while.
Most Kenyans think that by holding the call whether short or long for a little longer, they are strengthening their muscles.
However, health experts are cautioning that such behaviour, not only loosens your bladder, confuses your nervous system, but also predisposes you to conditions such as incontinence, irritable bowel movements, kidney problems and urinary tract and anal canal infections.
In extreme and rather rare cases, although this argument still remains controversial, cancer of the rectum is also a possible risk.
Dr Pius Musau a urologist consultant at Moi Teaching hospital, Eldoret explains that ignoring a call of nature makes your bladder lax and hence you cannot be able to void spontaneously.
"Continued retention of urine or faecal waste over a prolonged period of time leads to a loose bladder," warns Musau.
The urological expert argues that if this habit is not discontinued, it will eventually boil down to a person suffering incontinence.
Incontinence is the inability to control the bladder and bowels movement, leading to leakage.
It is one of the most embarrassing and humiliating condition that forces people who suffer from it to use adult diapers in order to contain the leak.
Usually, majority of people who report incontinence are women who have just delivered and in the process, their reproductive health organ is torn, leading to the leakage problem.
For some, the problem can be rectified through reconstructive surgery but in some cases, it becomes a lifelong problem.
Musau observes that the other danger of holding urine is that the body is unable to release the toxins produced as waste at the right time.
"What it means then, is that this wastes will be absorbed back into the body, "explains Musau.
The consequences of urine absorption are the crystallisation of the toxins, which slowly combines and develops into kidney stones.
Kidney stones comprise of a compound called calcium oxalate. They also form as a result of a build-up of dissolved minerals on the inner lining of the kidneys.
Over time, these deposits accumulate and grow to the size of a golf ball.
Usually, they are small crystals, which pass unnoticed out of the urinary tract when a person is urinating, although some may cause extreme pain upon exiting.
But, those that remain in the body can lead to many conditions including; severe pain and blockage of the tube connecting the kidney and the bladder (ureter) that obstructs the path urine uses to exit the body.
Scientists at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, US, note that people with kidney stones are at a significantly higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease.
Lucia Buyanza the Nurses Association of Kenya reproductive health coordinator, concurs with Dr Musaufs analysis on the repercussions of failing to do the deed as and when the bodyfs signals.
Buyanza goes further to say that when you are pressed and wait too long the nervous system is likely to get damaged.
In addition, by failing to void when pressed, your rectum may be affected, leading to you suffering from haemorrhoids.
Haemorrhoids, also known as piles have scientifically been proven to occur as a result of strained bowel movement.
Other causes include inadequate intake of fibre, prolonged sitting on the toilet and chronic straining to have a bowel movement (constipation).
It is postulated that the force of hard stool particularly when one is suffering from constipation strains the anal canal, hence dragging the haemorrhoidal cushions downwards.
Other scholars argue that as one ages, the supporting tissue that is responsible for anchoring the haemorrhoids to the underlying muscle of the anal canal deteriorates. With time, the haemorrhoidal tissue loses its mooring and slides down into the anal canal, leading to piles.
Pregnancy is also another clear cause of enlarged haemorrhoids, though again the reason is not clear.
Tumours in the pelvis have also been seen to cause enlargement of haemorrhoids by pressing on veins draining upwards from the anal canal.
"By the time you are ready to answer a long call, there will be a strain of the muscles, which can damage the cells in this region," Buyanza notes.
She argues that if this habit of delaying to void is continued, it will further lead to the destruction of the normal cells giving a chance for abnormal ones to grow.
"Sometimes, people wait for too long before answering naturefs call and by the time they respond, their muscles are strained," Buyanza points out.
This will mean that when you are in your 40s, you might have a problem controlling your bladder.
She advises people that if you notice you are bleeding when passing stool, it is important to have a medical examination.
Currently, she says they are educating teachers to encourage pupils to go to the toilet whenever the urge strikes and not to wait until break time.
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