Incontinence is the inability to voluntarily stop the flow of urine or realize that you need to urinate, resulting in unpredictable and uncontrollable urination. It is normal in infants and becomes increasingly common with age. In the elderly, it is usually due to the inability to control the sphincter that surrounds the urethra. However, it can be a symptom of other diseases, including cancer of the prostate gland in men. Incontinence is almost always the symptom of a treatable condition, but there is a great reluctance to reveal it to physicians, leading to underdiagnosis.