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" &amp;quot;I pee when I sneeze,&amp;quot; says one friend. &amp;quot;I pee when I run says another.&amp;quot; Incontinence. It&amp;#039;s not something most women like to talk about, but when asked (and I do), many of my mom friends confess that things don&amp;#039;t work the same way since childbirth. Even for those women who haven&amp;#039;t given birth, leaking urine is often &amp;quot;a common occurrence in perimenopause and menopause,&amp;quot; writes Julia Edelman MD. Of the 25 million Americans who experience incontinence, 75-80% of them are women; many are too embarrassed to talk about it or seek treatment. So in the interest of breaking that silence I thought I&amp;#039;d talk about the problem. I&amp;#039;m not immune. Experts aren&amp;#039;t sure whether bladder problems at menopause are due to aging specifically or menopause, but what they do know is that the bladder and surrounding areas are rich with estrogen receptors. And we all know what happens to estrogen during this time. Edelman also writes in Menopause Matters, that collagen, which weakens with age, may play a role. All I know is that I find it increasingly necessary to think about where I can find the nearest bathroom. Truth be told, I always needed this information. In college years ago, I thought every city needed a guidebook to free, clean public restrooms (this was before the ubiquitous coffee shops). And I thought I&amp;#039;d be the perfect person to write these books. Now I know the solution to this problem. Kegel exercises. Tens of them several times a day. I&amp;#039;ve done them before and know that they work. My gynecologist told me she does them all the time, often while talking to patients or pumping gas, which I found somewhat unsettling as I was in her office talking to her when she told me. I haven&amp;#039;t put that information into practical use lately, though I know I should. And my bladder can tell. Time to fill up the gas tank. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/health-fitness/a45215/water-works-2045/>