Bladder
noun
Commonly, the bladder refers to a pouch in the lower abdominal area that holds urine before it is passed out of the body. However, any pouch that can contain a liquid or gas can be called a bladder.
The kidneys filter impurities out of the blood and send urine to the urinary bladder. In a man, a tube called the urethra exits the bladder through the prostate gland and the penis where it is expelled. For a woman, the urethra is shorter and leaves the urinary bladder exiting in front of the vagina.
Some types of urinary incontinence are caused by weak urinary bladder muscles, other types by overactive muscles. However, incontinence problems are not limited to these sources. Urinary tract infections, also called UTIs, can originate in the bladder, commonly called a bladder infection, and in medicine this is called cystitis. Urine is sterile unless a bacterial infection is present, and cystitis is usually treated with antibiotics.
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