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Preksha Dhyana:
The Bladder
It is an expandable baglike structure, situated mainly in the pelvic cavity below the navel. As it fills up, it expands upward into the abdomen. The two ureters enter the bladder and travel for a few centimeters under the bladder wall.
The Urethra
In both sexes, urine is emptied from the bladder through a pencil-size tube, the urethra, which emerges at the exterior surface of the body in an opening. In females, the urethra is a short tube about 2.5 to 3 cms. long. The male urethra takes a much longer, tortuous course. It goes through the prostate gland and has a total length of about 20 cms. It serves the double function of carrying urine as well as seminal fluid. Enlargement of prostate gland (in older men) can restrict the flow of urine making urination difficult and painful.
Besides cleaning and filtering the blood, kidneys encourage production of red blood cells. They regulate the proportion of sodium and potassium salts, water and other substances in the blood. A little too much or a shade too little of any of them can be fatal. They control vital water balance. They also keep blood neither too acidic nor too alkaline.
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