Does A Full Bladder Impact Cognition?

[Lancewen]

I don't need a study to know this is very true.

 

Skip past the first article Zoo chimp makes elaborate plots to attack humans or read it first.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47363062?ocid=todmsnbc11#.T6s5EMVXlLc

 

Explainer: The 2012 Weird Science Awards

 

Our annual Weird Science Awards pay tribute to the strangest scientific tales of the past year, and you just know the 2012 edition had to be a doozy. While we're waiting for the Maya apocalypse — and we may be waiting a long, long time — let's count down the top 10 Weird Science stories, as determined by an ironically unscientific Live Poll.

 

No. 10 is the discovery that having a painful need to urinate can impair your judgment. "When people reach a point when they are in so much pain they just can't stand it anymore, it was like being drunk," says Brown University neurologist Peter Snyder. "The ability to hold information was really impaired." To say nothing of the ability to hold water.

 

The research won Snyder and his colleagues a share in one of 2011's Ig Nobel Prizes, which honor science that makes you laugh, and then makes you think. Watch Snyder explain the study in this YouTube video, then click the "Next" button for more laugh-provoking science — or scroll quickly all the way down to the bottom if you have a painful need to go.

 

— Alan Boyle, msnbc.com science editor

 

You can access the video on the link below or at the article link.

 

[labelwench]

Indeed, it is easily observed (and experienced) that a full bladder detracts from one's ability to concentrate. For that reason, whenever I am somewhere new, I first identify the exits and the location of the facilities finding that this puts my mind and body in a more relaxed state conducive to dealing with the task at hand. Being cognizant of the frequency and types of fluids ingested is also of importance as some beverages will be eliminated more rapidly than others.

 

Aside from the discomfort, potential for embarrassment and cognizance interference of a full bladder, there are some potential health risks to consider as well:

 

 

Bladder Control

• Holding a bladder for long periods may lead to a loss of bladder control or voiding dysfunction. Voiding dysfunction may occur in children who hold their urine too long and extend their bladder unnecessarily. In addition, the sphincter may not respond correctly if urine is constantly held in the bladder. If the nerves that carry messages are not firing correctly it may cause you to retain urine due to the inability of the sphincter muscles to relax. This may cause urine retention that can lead to overflow or accumulation of bacteria.

 

 

 

Effects

• Holding urine longer than necessary can lead to several urinary related problems, including urinary or bladder infection and kidney disease. When urine is allowed to sit in the bladder for long periods it can develop high levels of bacteria that may lead to these infections. A urinary tract infections—or UTI—can lead to the more serious bladder and kidney infections. These conditions are characterized by symptoms such as pain during urination, persistent need to urinate, fever, chills and stomach pain.

Read more: Side Effects of Holding a Bladder | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/...l#ixzz1uUGxhOb7

[Lancewen]

The reason this article caught my eye is because I once had an adverse reaction to a birth control suppository. The opening was swollen shut tight. There is nothing like realizing you have no way to empty a full bladder. When you have to go bad, the time it takes to make an emergency doctors appointment and get there for treatment is excruciating. The doctor gave me a choice to be catheterized or take a pill that would reduce the swelling and turn my urine reddish. Needless to say I was willing to hold it for about an hour longer, and then I knew how to spell relief.:rolleyes:

 

So I could relate to what these scientists were talking about.

Edited May 10, 2012 by arKane

[CraigD]

What’s weird about Peter Snyder et al’s “The effect of acute increase in urge to void on cognitive function in healthy adults” is that it shared with a similar paper the 2011 Ignoble Prize in medicine. At worse, the experiment strikes me as an inexpensive way for the authors, most of them teaching MDs, to publish something (as the adage “publish or perish” notes, not publishing often enough can be career-limiting in academia). At best, it calls attention and adds a little scientific rigor to a clearly real physical effect that has important quality and safety ramifications. Igging it seems a bit unfair.

 

The authors seem to take their Ig laurels in good spirits, though. In

, Snyder creatively reinterprets the “entire purpose” of the prize as “to excite the public about science”. The official goal of Improbably Research, the organization that administers the Igs, is “is to make people laugh, then make them think”. For most people, I think, the emphasis in on the laughing. I’d describe the purpose of the prize less positively than Snyder, as to single out people for worldwide ridicule.

 

In the video, the unflappable Snyder seems to take pride that his paper was selected “from about 7,000 nominations”, and notes that he, and as many of his coauthors as could, attended the prize ceremony to receive their Ig. You can’t fault these folk for not having good senses of humor.

 

The gist of this research is that “badly have to pee” impairment is equivalent by many measures to the impairment cause by being legally drunk. As having an overfull bladder while operating dangerous machinery is in my experience at least as common and doing so drunk, I think this makes an important point. I believe many folk who would only drive drunk in the direst emergency don’t give a second though to holding a full bladder for a short trip, which if Snyder et al’s research is to be taken seriously, is about as dangerous.

 

I’m skeptical of this conclusion, though, because I’ve never heard or read of police or rescuers on the scene of a car crash noting the driver at fault in dire need of micturition. I don’t have much contact with police or paramedics, so perhaps my skepticism is simply due a custom of not reporting this, but I’ve a hunch it’s not. Intuitively, driving-while-needing-to-pee seems to me much less dangerous than DWI.

 

Some bladder-related science I’d like to see is a study of the “I held it so long I don’t have to pee anymore” phenomenon. I’ve experienced this many times: having an urgently full bladder, hard to the touch, but no opportunity to empty it, then, after a hour + of holding it (and not consuming any more liquids, of course), my bladder appears less full. My impression is that water is somehow getting absorbed from my bladder into my bloodstream, but I’ve yet to validate if this is a documented phenomenon, or even physiologically possible. Whatever its explanation, it surely can be a relief. :)

 

Read more: Side Effects of Holding a Bladder | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/...l#ixzz1uUGxhOb7

Though it make good points about the incontinence and infection risks of “poor bladder management”, this from the ehow page is at least as laughter worthy, for stating the obvious, as the Ig-winning science papers:

Because the nerves send signals to the brain when the bladder is full, it is important to pay attention to warning signs that the bladder is ready to eliminate. A feeling of fullness is in the bladder region would indicate it is time to urinate. To ensure the bladder stays healthy, individuals should urinate as frequently as necessary to avoid urine buildup. In addition, it is advisable to not drink excessively before going anywhere that restroom facilities are not available.

:lol:

 

The reason this article caught my eye is because I once had an adverse reaction to a birth control suppository. The opening was swollen shut tight. There is nothing like realizing you have no way to empty a full bladder.

A truly dreadful tale, arKane! Which, of course, triggered even more dreadful imaginings of what would happen if medical care had been out-of-reach (eg: “on a desert island”). If imagining catheterizing yourself with improvised materials doesn’t make you cringe, likely nothing will! :o

[Lancewen]

What’s weird about Peter Snyder et al’s “The effect of acute increase in urge to void on cognitive function in healthy adults” is that it shared with a similar paper the 2011 Ignoble Prize in medicine. At worse, the experiment strikes me as an inexpensive way for the authors, most of them teaching MDs, to publish something (as the adage “publish or perish” notes, not publishing often enough can be career-limiting in academia). At best, it calls attention and adds a little scientific rigor to a clearly real physical effect that has important quality and safety ramifications. Igging it seems a bit unfair.

 

The authors seem to take their Ig laurels in good spirits, though. In

, Snyder creatively reinterprets the “entire purpose” of the prize as “to excite the public about science”. The official goal of Improbably Research, the organization that administers the Igs, is “is to make people laugh, then make them think”. For most people, I think, the emphasis in on the laughing. I’d describe the purpose of the prize less positively than Snyder, as to single out people for worldwide ridicule.

 

In the video, the unflappable Snyder seems to take pride that his paper was selected “from about 7,000 nominations”, and notes that he, and as many of his coauthors as could, attended the prize ceremony to receive their Ig. You can’t fault these folk for not having good senses of humor.

 

The gist of this research is that “badly have to pee” impairment is equivalent by many measures to the impairment cause by being legally drunk. As having an overfull bladder while operating dangerous machinery is in my experience at least as common and doing so drunk, I think this makes an important point. I believe many folk who would only drive drunk in the direst emergency don’t give a second though to holding a full bladder for a short trip, which if Snyder et al’s research is to be taken seriously, is about as dangerous.

 

I’m skeptical of this conclusion, though, because I’ve never heard or read of police or rescuers on the scene of a car crash noting the driver at fault in dire need of micturition. I don’t have much contact with police or paramedics, so perhaps my skepticism is simply due a custom of not reporting this, but I’ve a hunch it’s not. Intuitively, driving-while-needing-to-pee seems to me much less dangerous than DWI.

 

One of the problems I've heard about, is if you have a full bladder and are in a car accident, you can burst your bladder. I didn't know if this was true or not so I did a little searching and came up with the following.

 

Bladder Trauma

 

Bladder injuries are caused by blunt or penetrating trauma. The probability of bladder injury varies according to the degree of bladder distention; therefore, a full bladder is more likely to become injured than an empty one.

 

Although uniformly fatal in the past, a timely diagnosis with appropriate medical and surgical management now offers an excellent outcome. Early clinical suspicion, appropriate and reliable radiologic studies, and prompt surgical intervention, when indicated, are the keys to successful diagnosis and management of bladder trauma.

 

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/441124-overview

 

In conclusion if a full bladder helps cause the accident, and the fact that it's full could add to the trauma you are going to go through. However it is good to know that it's rarely fatal anymore.

 

 

A truly dreadful tale, arKane! Which, of course, triggered even more dreadful imaginings of what would happen if medical care had been out-of-reach (eg: “on a desert island”). If imagining catheterizing yourself with improvised materials doesn’t make you cringe, likely nothing will!

 

Yes, the imagination was much worse than the reality, if you can get to a doctor in time. Personally catheterizing myself even with catheters made for that is not a very pleasant thought and I do cringe at the thought.