Beaumont Research Gets More Than $2 Million In NIH Research Grants

ROYAL OAK -- The Beaumont Research Institute has earned two research grants to investigate urinary incontinence in older women and therapy for overactive bladder from National Institutes of Health, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Ananias Diokno, M.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer, Beaumont Health System and collaborators at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, have been awarded a $645,000 research grant from the National Institute on Aging to develop a screening tool to predict urinary incontinence in older women.

"We previously developed a comprehensive, noninvasive program to prevent urinary incontinence in older women. Now, we want to develop a tool to identify those who are prone to developing urinary incontinence and provide them with a preventive program," says Dr. Diokno."

Urinary incontinence, or UI, is the loss of urine control or the inability to hold urine. More than 15 million men and women in the United States experience incontinence. Women who are over 50 are the most likely to develop UI. It can range from the discomfort of slight losses of urine to severe, frequent wetting.

The research supported by the National Institute on Aging award, will be used to develop a questionnaire. It will be developed through a reliable and effective statistical model, to answer important questions related to urinary incontinence.

Beaumont researchers Pradeep Tyagi, Ph.D. and Michael Chancellor, M.D., director of Beaumont Neurouology Research and collaborators from University of Pittsburgh received a $1.38 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The grant will fund research to examine new treatments for those with an overactive bladder and certain neurological conditions.

"It is a great honor to receive this translational science grant to develop an exciting new therapy for incontinence and severe bladder problems in patients with spinal cord injuries and neurological diseases," said Tyagi, principal investigator and research associate at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.

Overactive bladder is a condition characterized by a sudden, uncomfortable need to urinate with or without urine leakage. It occurs when the bladder muscles contract more often than normal. Instead of staying at rest when the bladder is filling with urine, the muscle contracts while it is filling with urine.

The National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases are both part of the National Institutes of Health, the nation's medical research agency. NIH is made up of 27 Institutes and Centers, each with a specific research agenda, often focusing on particular diseases or body systems. NIH is the largest source of funding for medical research in the world, creating hundreds of thousands of high-quality jobs by funding thousands of scientists in universities and research institutions in every state across America and around the globe.

Beaumont urologists offer endoscopic, robotic and laparoscopic surgical options as well as traditional surgeries. They also specialize in treatment for kidney stones; painful bladder conditions such as overactive bladder and incontinence; sexual dysfunction; urologic cancer; prostate conditions; male infertility; voiding dysfunction; and erectile dysfunction. Beaumont, Royal Oak is ranked on U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Hospitals" 2011-12 list for urology.