Science Questions

Is the human bladder like a sponge or more like a balloon in the way it holds liquid? Jason via email

The answer is that it's more like a balloon. It's made mostly of smooth muscle and holds all your wee inside. The more you pump into it, the bigger it gets and it's actually quite good to train your bladder because the more you stretch it, the more it gets used to holding things. I don't mean that you should get it to bursting point, but if you can train it so that you don't need to go too soon then it means you have more control later. Many women have problems controlling the muscles when they get older, so a little bit of training is probably quite good.

February 2007