Dear Ann Landers,
or three consecutive years (1974-76) I devel-oped cystitis-a bladder infection. But not until after the third miser-able bout did I ask myself some questions. Here I was, an otherwise healthy woman in her 50s, getting this infection regularly. Why? I figured out a possibility and called my urologist. He was flabber-gasted that I had been wearing underpants to bed since childhood. To compound the problem came the '70s, when it was considered fash-ionable to wear pantyhose and slacks everywhere. I no longer wear underpants to bed and have had no more bladder in-fections. I believe this information could be helpful to others-especially if you could get the backing of a good urologist. Why not ask one? -Wiser with Age

Dear Wiser,
I took your suggestion and contacted Dr. Joseph J. Kaufman, one of the country's most distinguished physicians. He is chief of urology at the University of California School of Medicine. Here is Dr. Kaufman's response: