as a self-limiting problem, since most children will outgrow it. Children 5 to 9 years old have a spontaneous cure rate of 14% per year. Adolescents 10 to 18 years old have a spontaneous cure rate of 16% per year. As can be seen from the numbers above, a portion of bedwetting children will not outgrow the problem. Adult rates of bedwetting show little change due to spontaneous cure. Persons who are still enuretic at age 18 are likely to deal with bedwetting throughout their lives. Studies of bedwetting in adults have found varying rates. The most quoted study in this area was done in the Netherlands. It found a 0.5% rate for 20- to 79-year-olds. A Hong Kong study, however, found a much higher rate. The Hong Kong researchers found a bedwetting rate of 2.3% in 16- to 40-year-olds. History In the first century B.C., at lines 1026-29 of the fourth book of his On the Nature of Things, Lucretius gave a high-style description of bed-wetting: "Innocent children often, when they are bound up by sleep, believe they are raising up their clothing by a latrine or shallow pot; they pour out the urine from their whole body, and the Babylonian bedding with its magnificent splendor is soaked." An early psychological perspective on bedwetting was given in 1025 by Avicenna in The Canon of Medicine: "Urinating in bed is frequently predisposed by deep sleep: when urine begins to flow, its inner nature and hidden will (resembling the will to breathe) drives urine out before the child awakes. When children become stronger and more robust, their sleep is lighter and they stop urinating." Psychological theory through the 1960s placed much greater focus on the possibility that a bedwetting child might be acting out, purposefully striking back against parents by soiling linens and bedding. However, more recent research and medical literature states that this is very rare. See also Enuresis Nocturnal emission References External links Childhood Mental disorders diagnosed in childhood Pediatrics Sleep disorders Symptoms and signs: Urinary system Toilet training Urine Urology