URINARY FREQUENCY:
Dear Sumner:
Bill Jones will be calling your office for an appointment. He is 75 years of age and is a bit of a hypochondriac. He has been my patient for the past 25 years and claims to be very aware of the way his body “works.” He becomes fixated on particular bodily functions and is currently loosing sleep worrying about his current “fixation,” that of urinary frequency. Save for mild problems with his prostate (he claims his stream is “not what it used to be”) he is amazingly good condition. He complains that he has to urinate every hour, day and night. I would be most grateful if you could help Bill (and me!)
Dear John:
I, too, found no gross abnormalities on Bill. His prostate was palpably benign, his urine was free of infection, and his post-void residual was negligible. We had a rather extensive discussion re the machinations of the urinary tract. I must admit I had quite a time getting him to accept the simple concept of intake and output; i.e. what goes in must come out. He enjoys his cups of coffee with each meal and his eight glasses of water during the day. One very revealing additional bit of information was that, in order to help him go back to sleep each time he gets up, he drinks a large glass of warm milk. It was very exciting (and most gratifying) to note Bill’s expression on his face when he realized that merely modifying his fluid intake could take care of his problem (It will be interesting to see what his new “fixations” will be!)
