Where do we get these Boneheads and Why do we pay them?
Scientist seeks the perfect wee
By Jordan Baker
August 09, 2002
PUT your feet flat on the ground, your hands on your knees, and lean forward: Now you're ready for the perfect pee.
Professor Ajay Rane has spent years studying the perfect pee to help one million Australians - including 300,000 men - who suffer from a weak bladder.
Dr Rane said research showed one in 10 children would develop bowel and bladder dysfunction if they did not have adequate foot support when they went to the toilet.
Other studies showed that if a person hovered on the toilet instead of sitting on it, they only emptied one third of their bladder.
"We then did further research to try to find what's called the perfect pee," Dr Rane, from James Cook University, told ABC radio.
"It involves basically advising women - and men, in fact - to sit on the toilet with their feet flat on the ground, elbows on their knees, and leaning forward as if they're reading a newspaper on the floor.
"This improves both bladder and bowel function."
Dr Rane said he was conducting a large study at Townsville Hospital to find out which is better - a toilet with a seat or the third-world squat toilet.
"The jury is still out," he said.
"If the jury comes back saying the hole in the ground is the best way to go, I think some serious decisions will have to be made all over the developed world."
Dr Rane said one in three women would suffer from a weak bladder between the ages of 17 and 70, with childbirth and menopause contributing factors.
But there were other issues involved, including bad bladder habits, lack of pelvic muscle training, being overweight and having chronic asthma.
"Simple interventions like pelvic muscle exercises, hormone replacement therapy and good bladder habits can make 65 per cent of patients better," Dr Rane said.
