Did you know that while the kidney works, urine continuously flows down through the ureters. With this fact, don't you ever wonder why we only go to the bathroom only 4 to 5 times a day and not every single minute? The answer is simple. In our body, we can find a storage unit that stores urine until it is time for the body to expel it out. This little storage unit is what we call the bladder. Urine coming from the kidney is brought to the bladder through the ureters, two tubes connecting to each kidney, linking it with the bladder. Urine leaves the body through the urethra, and into a wider tube that leads out of the body.
The bladder has a capacity of 0.5 liters of urine. When a bladder fills, the wall relaxes in order for it to expand. At one point, the bladder signals the brain that it is almost filled to its capacity. The brain then sends impulses for the urethral sphincter to relax, allowing urination to occur. Once the urethral sphincter relaxes, the bladder walls contract, forcing the urine out through the urethra.
Incontinence is a condition marked by the inability to control urination. This can be caused by a variety of reasons, one of which is when muscles weaken due to age, another is due to damage of the sphincter during surgery, another is caused by damage to the bladder nerves, and so on.
The most common diseases of the bladder include inflammation called cystitis, and cancer. Cystitis results from a bacterial infection, and can be cured through medication. If left untreated, the infection may move up to the kidneys, or what is called as pyelonephritis. Cancerous tumours which grow in the bladder have to be removed surgically. If a large tumour is present, the removal of the bladder may be necessary, but an artifically created bladder may take its place.