Nervous system conditions affect the bladder by which statement?

• A. They improve bladder control
• B. They have no effect
• C. They impair urinary elimination
• D. They disrupt nervous control of the urinary system

Answer: (D)

Nervous system control is essential for coordinating storage and voiding. When nervous system conditions occur, they disrupt the signals that regulate the bladder and urethral sphincters, leading to problems with urinary elimination. The bladder’s detrusor muscle is controlled by the parasympathetic system to contract during voiding and by the sympathetic system to relax the detrusor and tighten the internal sphincter for storage; the external sphincter is under somatic control via the pudendal nerve. Damage or disease in these pathways can produce overactive or underactive bladder, urinary retention, incontinence, or dyssynergia. So, nervous system conditions affect the bladder by disrupting nervous control of the urinary system.