Biology Anatomy of the Urinary Bladder

Question: Discuss about the Biologyfor Anatomy of the Urinary Bladder. Answer: Introduction The urinary system contains several organs which makes it to be able to function well. Each of its organs performs various functions which all together make it possible to store and finally pass urine, as indicated in figure 1. The urinary system is made up of two kidneys, the bladder, two ureters, nerves, and urethra and sphincter muscles. Once the body has absorbed the nutrients that it requires, the waste products are left in the blood. In this case, the lungs, skin, urinary system and the intestines work hand in hand so that the wastes and the water in blood can be brought to a balance. The urinary system is basically tasked with removing urea from the body. The urea is a waste product derived from the breakdown of proteins which is in turn transported to the kidneys by the renal arteries (Jones et al., 2013). The urine containing urea and other wastes are transported all the way to the bladder where storage occurs as it awaits release. In this paper, the information presented co ncerns the anatomy of the urinary bladder in order to perform its storage functions. The Anatomy of the Urinary Bladder for Storage Functions The urinary system contains elastic walls which are capable of expanding up to fifteen times the volume of its empty space. These walls are made up of smooth muscles which help in the emptying of urine. This system has got two sphincter muscles which help in holding of the urine while the smooth muscles walls have receptors that pass information on how much of the walls of the urinary system has been stretched enough and hence the need to release urine (Tarzamni et al., 2016). The urinary system is made up of the bladder and outflow tract. The opposite functions of the urethra and the bladder makes it possible for the storage of urine and eventual elimination to take place. Basically, the bladder is a hollow muscular structure which is dome shaped and is found on the pelvic cavity. This system therefore makes sure that urine is passed from the kidneys into the bladder through the ureters without any leakage. From there, the bladder again expels the urine through the urethra via a pro cess known as micturition. Initially, the urethral pressure falls and then it is followed by increased pressure in the bladder. This process is regulated by the muscles in the urinary system because it is complex and requires control. Moreover, this coordinated process is also under the control of the neuronal systems. It is important to note that the position of the urinary system is placed on different positions based on gender. For instance, in females, the urinary system is places at the inferior and anterior to the uterus while in male, it is located anterior to the rectum. The ureters extend from the medial side of the kidneys and proceeds down to the bladder whereby they enter from the poster lateral side. The area where the ureters meet with the urethra has different physiological features from the walls of the bladder as shown in table 1. The urethra maintains a balance by creating a feeling of relaxation when voiding and also contracts when it is not passing urine. The ureters travel up to the loop o f henle, a region which carries out extensive water reabsorption. Having made a hairpin turn, it moves up to the distal convoluted tubule where a lot of sodium ions is reabsorbed. The ureters are two in number, i.e. one for each kidney and are found on the pelvic region. The ureter which leads from the right side is shorter as compared to the one on the left. The ureters are approximately 8 to 10 centimeters long and are in constant state of contraction and relaxation so that urine can be propelled forward. More important, the ureters function more or less like valves so as to prevent the possible backflow of urine into the kidneys. If urine is allowed to sit in the kidneys for a long time, it can cause infection to the kidneys. The detrusor muscles are different in terms of structure and function of the muscles in the bladder. The detrusor muscles are arranged in a longitudinal manner and in circular fashion such that they bundle together and are linked together connective tissues as shown in figure 2. These smooth muscles contain cells which are spindle in shape and a central nucleus. Moreover, these cells are small in size so that when they are relaxed they can extend to a large surface to hold and store as much urine as possible (Rizzo, 2015). Th ese bundle shaped cells in the smooth muscles of the urinary system and particularly in the bladder forms fascicles, whose orientation in the walls of the bladder has roles which determine the shape as well as the intraluminal pressure. The urethra in males has several sections whereby the inner layer is thick and longitudinal; the middle layer is thin and circular while the outer layer is striated. The sphincter is important in the prevention of any urine from leaking until when the pressure inside the bladder strong enough to force it to the outside. The internal sphincter is an elastic tissue which is made up of smooth muscles (Scanlon Sanders, 2014). Outside the urethra lies a circular tissue which is made up of circular skeletal muscles and is commonly referred to as the external sphincter, which is more of a valve to control the flow of urine. This external sphincter does not differ in any way in terms of the anatomical features among the males and females. The filling and emptying of the bladder determines is shape, for instance, when the bladder is full, it has an oval shape but when it is empty, it is flattened. Conclusion There are numerous anatomical features which play important roles for the bladder to perform its storage functions. This ensures that urine is stored until when it i.e. released through the urethra t avoid backflow to the kidneys. Any abnormalities to the urinary system as a result of infection or injury make urine storage a huge problem. References Jones, T. C., Hard, G. C., Mohr, U. (Eds.). (2013). Urinary system. Springer Science Business Media. Rizzo, D. C. (2015). Fundamentals of anatomy and physiology. Cengage Learning. Scanlon, V. C., Sanders, T. (2014). Essentials of anatomy and physiology. FA Davis. Tarzamni, M. K., Nezami, N., Zomorrodi, A., Fathi-Noroozlou, S., Piri, R., Naghavi-Behzad, M., Bijan, B. (2016). Renal Collecting System Anatomy in Living Kidney Donors by Computed Tomographic Urography: Protocol Accuracy Compared to Intravenous Pyelographic and Surgical Findings. Journal of clinical imaging science, 6.