title: The medical treatment of overactive bladder, including current and future treatments.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oveactive bladder (OAB) is a common condition that affects patients' quality of life. The role of antimuscarinics and future treatments in the management of this bothersome condition is reviewed.
  
  
  METHODS
  The current literature on the efficacy, suitability and safety of current and future treatments is reviewed based on a search of Medline/Pubmed for relevant articles published in English between 1980 and 2010.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Currently, antimuscarinic drugs are the cornerstone of OAB treatment; clinically recommended doses of these agents decrease the ability of the bladder to contract during the storage phase and so increase cystometric bladder capacity. In general, these agents are safe and have mild adverse effects. There is also evidence that, despite having different tolerability profiles, available drugs are well tolerated compared with placebo. Antimuscarinic agents, as a class, have similar efficacy. They offer substantial help in the alleviation of OAB symptoms, providing significant improvement to quality of life. Investigation to provide pharmacological alternatives whenever antimuscarinic drugs do not provide symptomatic relief or cause intolerable side effects is intense. Beta-adrenergic agents may be the next pharmacologic agents for OAB. However, many other areas of research may soon provide new pharmacological agents for OAB treatment.
authors.affiliation: University of Patras, Medical School, Department of Urology, Urodynamic Urology Unit, Patra, Greece. tassos_athan@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Anastasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Athanasopoulos
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cruz
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D053201:Urinary Bladder, Overactive / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists