Is holding your pee dangerous?

I read that Tycho Brahe, an astronomer of the 15th century working in collaboration with Kepler, died because he deemed it impolite to void during a banquent. It was said that he had died from a burst bladder from holding back.

It was thought he died from mercury poisoning but then that theory was dismissed because they found the levels weren't high enough to have killed.

Some news articles warn alcohol users that alcohol may result in an atonic and over-distended bladder while reducing the sensation of a full bladder, and that this can cause the bladder to burst when it gets too full. This seems to contradict popular assurances that this cannot happen but I really can't decide. I happen to have a friend with shy bladder syndrome so I'm wondering if this really can happen. What do you think?

 

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Woman Dies After Holding Wee for Wii Radio Contest

The data seems to suggest it is only dangerous if it involves Nintendo gaming consoles.

 

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If you hold urine in your' bladder it will back up to your kidneys which then stop working correctly due to the blockage. That can and will kill you quite dead indeed.

The mechanism that retains fluid in your bladder is a sphincter muscle. Like any other muscle it will fatigue if clenched for an overlong time. This due to the accumulation of lactic acid, a byproduct of muscle metabolism. At a certain point the muscle will become over-fatigued and fail releasing the retained fluid regardless of social circumstances. In short, you will pee your pants if you try to hold it too long. If you succeed in holding your urine until you die you will then void your bladder as you die. Either way you will pee.

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Are you sure about that Stoniphi?
Sounds to me like something you made up.

 

But why would you be holding my pee? :scratchin:

 

What about the death of Tycho Brahe?
NOTE: It was dismissed he died of Mercury poisoning. The levels were found to have not been high enough to have caused his death.

 

I'm reminded of that joke about the difference between a rich Scotsman, a poor Scotsman and a dead Scotsman:
A rich Scotsman has a canopy over his bed.
A poor Scotsman has a can o' pee under his bed.
And a dead Scotsman canna pee at all.

 

:bravo:A former chemist indeed!

 

My urologist made it up as an excuse to give me a 'procedure'.

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probably not.

The VA came to JHU/APL where I worked in a group known for having applied modern technology to many medical problems with one of their problems. Many, perhaps even half of their paraplegic veterans died because they could not “wee” voluntarily. I. e. their exit sphincter was always closed. – The bladder filled up until the high pressure in the bladder force it open to leak out a small part of the urine in it, but before that urine with bacteria did back up into the kidney and that infection killed them.

We did design an external box that would periodically stimulate electrode on the detuser (not spelled correctly) mussel surrounding the bladder but for it to fully empty the bladder the natural sphincter had to be replaced with an artificial one the external box could control (open just before it stimulated the bladder) but was closed 98% of the time like the natural one is.

That artificial sphincter was a problem we could not solve. All we tested (in rabbits as I recall) soon caused necrosis of the tube leading from the bladder to the out side world. I suggested, only half in jest, that the VA remove the natural sphincter and stick a plastic golf tee up the end of their penis and have a nurse remove it if the were quadriplegics and could not remove it themselves just before they hit the "wee" button on the external box. I.e. that box would ring bell / buzz etc when it was time to "wee" not stimulate automatically on schedule. I was told not to tell that to the VA, but still think it is better than dying.

Some times my "thinking out side the box" is too far "out side," but I admit I was not sure chronic pressure of the golf tee might not cause necrosis with periodic need to "shorten the penis."

 

You are right Billy, I was joking. The actual reasons were more serious.

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It is my understanding that there is now an artificial bladder sphincter in use for radical prostatectomy patients who have lost too much of their bladder sphincter muscle to control their bladder retention. I do not believe that necrosis of the urethra is a problem with those at this time.

All bets are called if there is a serious bacterial infection present. :huh:

Here is a Web MD link to that replacement:

http://www.webmd.com/urinary-incontinence-oab/artificial-sphincter-for-urinary-incontinence-in-men

 

Thanks for link. Their approach is identical to the one we tried ~30 years ago. - Any data yet on failure rates?

 

"Shorten the penis" New phrase.
Corporate-speak for something you really don't want to do but have to do, otherwise you are dead.
"Sorry, but we've got to shorten the penis on this one guys.

 

Glad to contribute to a living language.

 

Sorry I don't have failure rates on that artificial valve, just a report that it works. I suspect that it is similar to the implant pump device that allows you to have an erection even if the erectile nerves have been cut or surgically removed.

Not really. Any man who gets a radical prostatectomy will lose an average of 4cm of penis length.

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Beats being dead from metastasized PCa though....at least for some men.

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Mine was very skillfull done, more than five years ago with much less than that "shorting of the penis" but not a complete cure. I have researched and developed a therapeutic diet supplement that does help keep my PSA very low - proven effective by a "dose effect" in actually reversing the expected rise of PSA during one of my "off-drug" periods when I more than double the daily dose taken. Normally those oral drugs loss effectiveness in 2 or 3 years at max, so I used them in a duty cycle and closely monitored the rise of PSA during "off drug" periods. (PSA and testosterone measurements are free in Brazil) I resumed drug use when PSA approached only 0.1 and intitailly the drug use was less than 1/3 of the time, but after 3.5 years drug use duty cycle had become 50/50 with rapidly growing shorter off drug intervals. Then I swithed for 6 month to injections of a more expensive drug that works via the pituitary gland.

I did not like chemically messing around with that "queen gland" to keep myself "chemically castrated" so then during another operation* to remove what turned out to be small benign kidney tumor, I got the "real thing" (castration) done. That seems to be working out fine, but I did not expect I would tire more easily. I think it has been good for my health as now I am much for faithful to my program of swimming 24 laps three times each week and have set my computer's alarm to ring twice daily - so I walk up and down five flights of the apartment's service stairs on the "non-swim" days. Nothing like Stoniphi's extreme exercise program, but good for me I'm sure.

The prostate surrounds the urethra, so they cut it to slip the prostate off sew the urethra back together.** The scare tissue reduces the lumen at that point, so it takes me longer now to wee, but even in sleep, I have no leaking pee and complete control of its discharge but do wake up at least twice during the night to pee. What has changed is because of the section with reduced lumen, it takes longer to wee. I think the detrusor mussel gets tired and ceases to contract on the bladder as five minutes later, I can if I wish pee a considerable volume of pee again. I usually do as know it is a good idea to empty the bladders as fully as you can so new influx from the kidney dilutes more any concentration of germs developing in the bladder. My surgeon was so skilled that I even get erections but they are not firm enough for useful activity with wife. At our age that was not frequent prior to operation and she (I think) is slightly happy that phase of our life is over. If anything we both enjoy close physical contact more now.

* I want to note, that the seven nights in the hospital total after both operations and their cost, in Brazil was precisely $0.00 dollars equivalent. I am lucky as get to go the University of Sao Paulo, hospital/ clinic for my free medical needs (drug taken at home, not included) as wife was a professor there. USP is the best university in all of South America and far better in national ratings than most in the USA. Normally you can only go to the medical center nearest your home and many them are not as good by factor of 3 or more as UPS is. My Japanese urologist surgeon speaks perfect English with me as he did his internship and more years for 8 total at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
** They leave a small water- filled balloon at the end of a long tube to an outside bag passing thru the urethra for at least 2 weeks so the re-joined urethra heals with perfect alignment of the two cut ends. The small water filled balloon keeps the tube in place, until the surgeon, drains it later and removes it all. - Nice to not be tied to a bag of pee any longer.

 

No, but it slips through your fingers.

 

What about the death of Tycho Brahe? And the bladder can fill quite quickly I know this as a caffeine-beverage addict... look up ''women drinkers fit to burst'' - alcohol is a dieuretic, and numbs the sensation of needing to go and makes the detrusor muscle weak as it acts like an anesthetic.. apparently peoples bladders have burst simply from being too full from drinking.

 

From Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tycho_Brahe