Regulation of the lower urinary tract: urination and urinary incontinence

Abstract

Urinary incontinence represents a serious social, medical and economic problem, which suffers a progressive increase, due to the increase in life expectancy that social, health and cultural advances have achieved. It is estimated that in the world there are approximately two hundred million people in urinary incontinence with a great economic impact of great importance that can exceed the coverage forecasts of the different systems of health care services. Our group from the Department of Physiology of the UCM has been studying the physiology of the lower urinary tract (LUT) for several years in order to determine the neurotransmitters and receptors that regulate these structures. This greater knowledge of the Physiology and Pathophysiology of the LUT has allowed these dysfunctions to be corrected with pharmacological methods compared to the traditional alternative of surgery. Keywords: micturition; urinary incontinence; chemical neurotransmission; neurotransmitters; receptors