Prevent Disease.com - Brain Differences Detected in Bed-Wetters



		Brain Differences Detected in Bed-Wetters NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New research provides more evidence that bed wetting in children is a physical, not psychological, problem. Studying electrical activity in children's brains, Turkish researchers were able to detect signs of delayed brain maturation in children who were bed wetters. All young children wet the bed from time to time, but most eventually stop on their own. However, more than 5% of 7-year-olds repeatedly wet the bed at night. And the problem affects about 0.5% of adults. Bed wetting has been considered a psychological problem by some, but Dr. Olgu Hallioglu and colleagues at the University of Mersin have found differences between the brain activity of children who wet the bed and those who do not. The researchers studied 25 children who repeatedly wet the bed and 23 who did not, all between ages 6 and 14. Hallioglu's team measured brain activity using an electroencephalogram (EEG), an instrument that measures brain waves. The type of EEG used in the study, a resting EEG, has been used to measure myelinization, the process by which insulation called myelin covers nerve fibers. Resting EEG detected signs that the maturation of the brain was delayed in children who wet the bed, Hallioglu's team reports in the October issue of the Journal of Child Neurology. The researchers measured high levels of so-called delta waves in the brains of bed-wetting children. Delta-wave activity is high during sleep in children younger than age 2, but the activity usually diminishes as children grow older. And compared with other children, those who wet the bed had less alpha-wave activity, which usually increases as a child ages. The differences in delta and alpha waves suggest that the maturation of the brain is slowed in bed-wetting children, the researchers conclude. Based on the results, they recommend that resting EEG should be used to evaluate children who wet the bed. SOURCE: Journal of Child Neurology 2001;16:714-718. Reference Source 89 For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use PreventDisease.com's "Quick Prevention Resources".