Why Bathroom Access Is a Public Health Issue

It’s not unusual to fast before a medical test to avoid skewing the results. But Dr. Zoë Gottlieb’s patients often skip meals for a different reason. Gottlieb, a gastroenterologist and assistant professor of medicine at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine in New York City, specializes in treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), an umbrella term for conditions involving chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, specifically Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. People with IBD have “unreliable bowel habits,” meaning they may need to use the bathroom frequently or urgently, Gottlieb says. So when a patient doesn’t eat before their appointment, it can be a sign that they’re afraid they’ll be caught without a restroom when they need one, she says. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] That fear is warranted in the U.S., where there are just eight public toilets per 100,000 residents, according to a 2021 report from bathroom-supply company QS Supplies. That’s a public-health issue that acutely affects IBD patients but spares no one, says Michael Osso, CEO of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. “Everyone needs bathrooms,” Osso says. “And, frankly, it feels fundamentally wrong that we can’t support people in our community when they leave their homes by meeting this obviously critical need.”  The issue is serious enough that some people with...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate Source Type: news