The reason you need to go to the loo in the middle of the night
Researchers in Japan have found that the cause of needing to wee in the middle of the night is related to the salt in your diet.
Nocturia is the name given to the need to urinate during the night and it can strongly impact someone’s life as their sleep is regularly disturbed.
Scientists from Japan have discovered that if salt intake is reduced, the need to wee in the night is also reduced.
Dr Matsuo Tomohiro from Nagasaki University said, "Research generally focuses on reducing the amount of water a patient drinks, and the salt intake generally is not considered. Here we have a useful study showing how we need to consider all influences to get the best chance of improving the symptom.”
The study involved 300 men and women who reduced their salt intake by 10.7 grams to eight grams. This reduction decreased the number of times participants needed to urinate from 2.3 times to 1.4 times.
The study was presented at the European Society of Urology congress in London.
Dr Tomohiro says that although larger studies need to confirm their work, the findings are promising.
"Night-time urination is a real problem for many people, especially as they get older. This work hold out the possibility that a simple dietary modification might significantly improve the quality of life for many people," Dr Tomohiro said.