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Neurological means 'of the nervous system'. The nervous system is located in the brain and spinal cord. Urine leakage and bladder emptying problems can be caused if the central nervous system is damaged.
The spinal cord is very delicate, it lies in a canal which goes through the middle of the spine. There are the same kind of nerve cells in the spinal cord as in the brain. These send signals to the muscles and they receive signals from the senses. (touch, smell, sight etc)
If the spinal cord or brain is damaged, these signals cannot get through to the brain or nerve centre and this disrupts communication. If the link between the bladder and the nervous system that controls the bladder is broken, Neurogenic Bladder Dysfunction may be experienced.
The extent of this bladder dysfunction depends on where in the nervous system the damage occurs. It is also affected by whether the damage is ‘complete’ (all broken) or ‘incomplete’ (some still work).
An injury can also affect the nerves and this can often result in a problem with the bladder’s ability to fill or empty. Spinally injured patients will have problems with both bladder emptying and urine leakage.
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Depending on where the damage is located and how bad it is, the following bladder problems may occur:
- Cerebral uninhibited bladder
- Upper motor neuron damage or ‘reflex bladder’
- Lower motor neuron damage or ‘autonomous bladder’
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