By Sydney Ross Singer
Have you ever felt a burning need to urinate, but had to
hold it in? Perhaps you were driving along the highway, and the next rest area
was still 50 miles ahead. Or maybe you
were attending a seminar or class, or were at the theater or a concert, and you
just didn't want to leave for the restroom simply because your bladder was
full.
Our culture gives us millions of reasons for holding in
urine. In fact, to be successful in
society, we sometimes need to defer this personal biological need. Our training as waste retainers starts with
diapers. While other creatures have the
freedom to eliminate waste when the need arises, we humans living in modern,
Western civilization need to carefully plan our excretions to make them convenient
to our busy schedules, and appropriately performed and flushed away. In fact, we secretly pride ourselves on our
ability to hold in urine. It reflects
our high degree of training and civility. Being civilized means we no longer
assert our animalistic need to pee without proper decorum and timing. However, there is a price to this civility!
Medicine says nothing about the common practice of holding
in urine. In fact, the entire issue is
ignored, as is unfortunately the case with most cultural practices that affect
our health. Most doctors hold in their
own urine, as well, especially surgeons during surgery. Doctors and medical researchers are trained,
like the rest of society, to conform to our culture's idiosyncratic ways. This makes medicine and doctors oblivious to
the obvious, since we all tend to overlook our own personal foibles. Obviously,
holding in waste cannot be good for you.
Once you reflect on what is in the waste, where it is stored, and what
happens when the pressure of holding it in builds to unnaturally high levels,
the serious cost of urine retention becomes clear.
Urine is a filtrate from the blood. The kidneys require blood pressure to force
this filtration of the blood. Once the
kidneys process the filtrate, it becomes urine.
This then passively flows down to thin tubes, called the ureters, one
ureter for each kidney. The ureters
empty into the bladder, which expands to accommodate the fluid. Once the bladder expands to a certain limit,
a reflex is started that causes urination.
That is, if we allow the reflex to operate naturally.
Urine is predominately a salt solution, along with other
waste products. When you hold it in, the
pressure in the bladder builds, causing the urine to concentrate. The longer you hold in urine, the more
concentrated it will become. What can
happen to a salt solution when it becomes concentrated? It can precipitate, forming crystals. It's simple chemistry. These crystals are called stones.
In addition to concentrating the urine, bladder pressure
will resist the flow from the ureters of new urine from the kidneys. This will lead to a back-up of all the
plumbing, so to speak, as the kidneys themselves ultimately get hampered in
their ability to filter the blood. This
increases the toxin load of the bloodstream and can cause metabolic
problems. It also inhibits water and
salt elimination, and can contribute to high blood pressure and heart disease.
And there's more!
When you look at the male anatomy of the pelvic region, you will see
that the bladder is directly above the prostate gland. Underneath the prostate is the pelvic
floor. The pelvic floor and bladder
essentially make a prostate sandwich. An
over-filled bladder will press on the prostate.
No gland likes pressure, since pressure reduces its blood flow and
general operation. If severe and
frequent enough, the bladder pressure may cause the prostate to enlarge to
better cushion itself form the bladder burden.
It is medically known that prolonged horseback riding or bicycle riding
can lead to prostate enlargement due to pressure from the bottom up. A full bladder causes pressure from the top
down. A cause of prostate enlargement,
which is very common in Western cultures, may thus be this cultural penchant
for urine retention.
Another problem that may result from an over-stretched
bladder and its storage of concentrated waste is the bladder wall and ureters
may become irritated and damaged. This
may increase the likelihood of succumbing to bacterial invasion. Bladder and urinary tract infections may,
therefore, be another product of urine retention.
We would like to suggest the following self study for those
interested in improving their urinary tract, prostate, and kidney health. Here is what you do. Whenever you feel the urge to urinate, do
so. Don't wait or delay. Keep note of times you do delay. If you have a history of kidney stones,
bladder infections, or prostate enlargement, reflect honestly on your tendency
to hold it in. It may be an occupational
problem, such as bus and truck drivers, pilots, doctors, lawyers, and others
unable to stop what they are doing simply to pee. It may be a discomfort with using public
restrooms. No matter what the reason,
there's no excuse for storing refuse.
One further note. For
fear of having to urinate at an inappropriate time, some people may avoid drinking
water. This will lead to dehydration and
even more concentrated urine.
Interestingly, doctors tell patients with a history of kidney stones to
drink more. Of course, it's hard to take
it in if you are not letting it out.
According to modern medicine, the cause of most kidney
stones is unknown. More than 50% of
Americans will experience at least one kidney stone in his or her
lifetime. Passing these stones can be
one of the most painful experiences of a lifetime. Doctors recommend drugs, sonic beams, or
surgery to deal with the problem.
It is never mentioned that we live in a culture that makes
urination a pain, literally.
Sydney Ross Singer is a medical anthropologist and director
of the Institute for the Study of Culturogenic Disease, located in Hawaii. His unique form of applied medical
anthropology searches for the cultural/lifestyle causes of disease. His working assumption is that our bodies
were made to be healthy, but our culture and the attitudes and behaviors it
instills in us can get in the way of health.
By eliminating these causes, the body is allowed to heal. Since most diseases of our time are caused by
our culture/lifestyle, this approach has resulted in many original discoveries
into the cause, and cure, of many common diseases. It also makes prevention possible by
eliminating adverse lifestyle practices.
Sydney works with his co-researcher and wife, Soma Grismaijer, and is
the author of several groundbreaking health books.
Sydney's background includes a B.S. in biology from the
University of Utah; an M.A. degree from Duke University in biochemistry and
anthropology; 2 years of medical school training at UTMB at Galveston, along
with Ph.D. training in medical humanities.
If you are tired of feeling wasted, read our book, Get It
Out! Eliminating the Cause of Diverticulitis, Kidney Stones, Bladder
Infections, Cervical Dysplasia, PMS, Menopausal Discomfort, Prostate
Enlargement, and More! It's available
online at our website, http://www.SelfStudyCenter.org
Sydney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer can be reached at the
Institute for the Study of Culturogenic Disease, P.O. Box 1880, Pahoa, Hawaii
96778 (808) 935-5563. [mailto:sydsinger@gmail.com]sydsinger@gmail.com
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