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Acute prostatitis is inflammation of the prostate, a condition often heralded by symptoms similar to those of cystitis: frequent, painful urination and nocturia. There may also be a discharge from the urethra. Prostatitis may also be accompanied by fever, chills, and pain in the perineal region behind the scrotum, the lower back, or above the pubic bone. The most common cause of acute prostatitis is bacterial infection, which can result from infected urine.
 Research Acute Prostatitis
The bladder is a sac-like organ composed of musculomembranous fiber. Located in the pelvis, the bladder stores urine until it is excreted. The urine is passed to the bladder through ureters from each kidney in peristaltic waves. During excretion, the urethral orifice below the bladder is opened and the urine passes through the urethra. Though the urge to void the bladder of urine generally occurs when it has about 250 - 300 milliliters in it, the average human bladder can hold almost twice this amount. An average human excretes one to two liters of urine per day, though this is greatly dependent upon the health, diet, and level of activity of the adult. Ingested water usually is excreted within four hours of ingestion. Urine is usually clear or yellow, though this depends upon the diet and health of the individual. Urine has a distinct, ammonia-like smell which is primarily due to the nitrogenous wastes which make up 5% of the urine. The chief constituent of these wastes is urea, though ammonia, uric acid, creatinine, and a host of other waste products also are present.
Research Bladder
In males, the bulbospongiosus originates from the bulb of the penis and inserts in the perineal membrane and dorsal penile aponeurosis. It aids in the emptying of urine and ejaculation from the urethra. In the female, the bulbospongiosus closes the vaginal orifice. It originates from the bulb of the vestibule and inserts in the clitoral aponeurosis. The bulbospongiosus is innervated by the perineal branch of the pudendal nerve.
Research Bulbospongiosus
The bulbourethral (Cowper's) glands are two pea-sized lobes connecting to the side of the male urethra, responsible for secreting a lubricant into the urethra to facilitate the transport of spermatozoa during ejaculation.
Research Bulbourethral Glands
A catheter is a tube that is inserted into a hollow organ of the body in order to drain or introduce fluids. A urinary catheter is inserted into the bladder through the urethra to relieve obstruction to the flow of urine. Cardiac catheters are used to measure blood pressure in the heart. Similar catheters are used to inject radio- opaque substances into blood vessels for X-ray examination.
Research Catheters
A chancre is a painless ulcer tha develops at the site where an infection enters the body, typically on the lips, penis, urethra or eyelid, and is primarily a sympton of infections such as sleeping sickness and syphilis.
Research Chancre
The corpora of the urethra is the body of the urethral tube. The urethra passes from the base of the bladder, through the corpus cavernosa of the penis, and terminating in the urethral meatus at the apex of the glans of the penis. The urethra in the male body carries both urine and semen to the exterior of the body.
Research Corpora
The penis supports the urethra as it passes from the seminal vesicles, through the corpora cavernosa, to the meatus at the glans of the penis. The corpora cavernosa are made of spongy tissue which fill with blood during sexual arousal. As the blood fills these tissues, the penis begins to expand and become firm, and this condition is known as an erection. The erection facilitates the ejaculational transport of the semen to the female's vagina.
Research Corpora Cavernosa
Cystitis is an inflammation of the bladder. It is characterised by frequent, and painful passing of urine and may be caused by either a bacterial infection - usually bacteria straying from their natural habitat in the large intestine into the urethra and the bladder - or by crystalline deposits in the urine.
Research Cystitis
The ejaculatory duct is a short tubule located just above the prostate gland. It is formed by the connection of the vas deferens and the seminal vesicles, and serves to transport spermatozoa through the prostate gland and into the urethra.
Research Ejaculatory Duct
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The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
©1993 - 2009 The Probert Encyclopaedia
Southampton, United Kingdom
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