Ureaplasma
A bacterium that commonly infects the urogenital tract and can cause premature birth or spontaneous abortion. During delivery, ureaplasma can infect the newborn and cause meningitis, pneumonia, or septicemia.
Ureaplasma is similar to mycoplasma. They are among the smallest free-living organisms known. Ureaplasma lacks several proteins standard in comparable organisms. Its low biosynthetic capacity means that it must import more nutrients needed for growth that most other bacteria.
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- Uremia
The presence of excessive amounts of urea in the blood, which may be a sign of kidney disease or failure. It is also referred to as azotemia. See also urea.
- Ureter
One of the two tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder. Each ureter arises from a kidney, descends, and ends in the bladder.
- Urethra
The tube that leads from the bladder and transports and discharges urine outside the body. In males, the urethra travels through the penis and carries semen as well as urine. In females, the urethra is shorter than in the male, and it emerges above the vaginal opening.
- Urethral sphincter
the internal and external urinary sphincters. Part of the muscular bladder wall acts as the internal urethral sphincter and prevents urine from leaving the bladder to enter the urethra. This sphincter cannot be willfully controlled but is under involuntary control by the brain. A layer of muscle called the urogenital diaphragm supplies support for the […]
- Urethritis
Inflammation of the urethra, the tube that leads from the bladder to the outside of the body. Urethritis can have a number of causes, including irritation and sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia. Urethritis is closely associated with bacterial infection of the bladder (cystitis).