13

UROLOGY

The biological missions of the urinary system are to purify the blood and to move waste to the outside. The two kidneys are the organs that filter the blood. They help to regulate blood volume, blood pressure, and blood glucose levels. The kidneys are made up of three parts, each of which originates from a different embryologic tissue: the parenchymus (glomerulus) develops from the mesoderm, the urinary collector ducts originate from the endoderm, and the epithelial lining of the urinary ducts develops from the ectoderm.

Urine flows from the kidneys into the renal pelvis, the ureters, the bladder, and the urethra.

Figure 13.1. Urinary system

KIDNEYS: PARENCHYMA

The parenchyma is the functional part of the kidneys; it contains the nephrons that filter blood and create urine. In Chinese medicine, the kidney is connected to ancestors and to ancestral energy, such that the right kidney is associated with yang/male energy and the left kidney with yin/female energy.

The Felt Sense of the Biological Conflict

Conflicts that affect the parenchyma of the kidney, or the glomerulus network of capillaries that feeds it, all have something to do with liquid. There may be conflicts related directly to water (fear of flood or drowning), or to some other liquid—snow, ice, milk, oil, cash (as in liquid assets), gas, alcohol, urine, dialysis liquid, etc.—but not to blood, which relates to platelets or the spleen. For example, a nurse who was obsessed about forgetting to give drops (of medicine) found herself on dialysis.

Figure 13.2. Nephron: Structure and physiology

Hypertension can develop when the conflict of liquids is accompanied by a conflict of injustice, as for someone whose feelings can be described thus: “Disappointed in love, I close my heart, I harden.”

Example:

Mr. N had arterial hypertension. A water conflict had been programmed into him as a child, when his donkey gave birth near a river and its baby immediately died by drowning. Even though Mr. N was a child, he had to carry the baby donkey on his back and dispose of the body. After that, he felt unwell whenever he took a bath; he felt there was something dead in the water with him. Once Mr. N recalled that event he felt better, but was nevertheless afraid that, because of his hypertension, his heart would fail before he could accomplish his goals.

Neuronal connection: Mesencephalus. Note that the neuronal connections of the renal parenchyma are not crossed: the left kidney is controlled by the left brain.

Embryologic origin: New mesoderm

KIDNEYS: COLLECTOR DUCTS

The collector ducts are a series of tubules that channel urine created by the parenchyma into the renal pelvis. From the nephrons in the parenchyma, urine passes first into papillary ducts, then into larger ducts called the minor and major calyces.

When our distant ancestors still lived in water, it would often happen that an individual would be cast from this environment and find himself on dry sand; that is, he would find his existence threatened. As a result, the organism sought to retain water. The collector ducts were then blocked to prevent any loss of water during these life-threatening emergency conditions.

The Felt Sense of the Biological Conflict

Situations that affect the collector ducts of the kidneys involve the struggle for existence. These situations can reflect an attachment—as when the fish is thrown out of the water and “needs” the water—or an abandonment, as though one is a fish who feels abandoned by the wave, which “ took the others back but not me.”

In a deeper sense, conflicts that affect the collector ducts are those that reflect a complete loss of bearings or a struggle for existence in a context where one has lost everything, or everyone. This is a common conflict among refugees, immigrants, isolated disaster victims, and so on, but it can occur in anyone who has felt his values collapse or her dreams shatter. Alternatively, one can feel dispossessed when suddenly confronted by a “void” in a social or family situation (as when parents divorce), feeling that “the ground is giving way” beneath one’s feet.

There may be regret for having lost one’s youth with someone or something that was not worth it; a feeling that life is too hard, too long, too much, or frustration with an illness that has gone on for too long. One may feel unable to face one’s life, or unable to live because one’s interest in life is gone.

In the desert, the body enters anuria. The meaning is to stop the loss of water; reduction of the urinary outflow is observed. Through this the individual may continue to survive. A buildup of uric acid in the ducts can occur in someone who doesn’t want to lose a “drop” of life. “I keep even the waste from my connection with life.”

Examples:

Mr. E had cancer of the kidney. In 1991, at the time when he was a senior official at a bank, he and his family were attacked in the street. His family was held hostage for twelve hours, and the thieves were never caught. Mr. E experienced many emotions at the time: helplessness, disgust, and so on.

Mr. E’s conflict lay in having his family mixed up in all that. He wanted to protect them from this world of money, from disgusting criminal elements that seemed contaminated. He felt a disintegration of values he had patiently built up over his many years as a father and provider.

Mrs. R’s twin sister had her face modified with plastic surgery. This was a big shock for Mrs. R, who no longer recognized her sister. She felt that their root connection was gone, and she developed a conflict of being dispossessed. As a consequence, Mrs. R experienced blood in the urine, pain, and fever.

Neuronal connections: Vertical position in the brain stem; homolateral association between the organ and the neuronal relay

Embryologic origin: Endoderm

KIDNEYS: RENAL PELVIS

The renal pelvis is a single large cavity within the kidney that collects the urine that has passed through the various ducts and calyces.

The Felt Sense of the Biological Conflict

Symptoms of the renal pelvis develop from conflicts related to marking distant territory—territory that is either spatially far away or which is expected in the future.

Renal calculi—kidney stones—can form to protect territory from the invader or when one’s territory is not clearly defined, as when living with in-laws, for example. Calculi can form also because of improper elimination.

Example:

A retired miller walked toward his mill, which was his secondary, distant territory. He took a misstep and almost fell into the rushing water, but caught himself in time. The miller related this incident to his children, who, being worried, forbade him to return to the mill. A few days afterward he suffered from agonizing spasms from kidney stones and was no longer able to urinate. He couldn’t find the limits of his distant territory anymore, and thus could no longer mark it.

Neuronal connection: Right and left temporo-occipital cortex

Embryologic origin: Ectoderm

URETERS

A single ureter transports urine from the renal pelvis of each kidney to the bladder. The following discussion of the ureters also pertains to the submucosal layer of the bladder.

The Felt Sense of the Biological Conflict

The ureters and the submucosa of the bladder will be affected by conflicts over territory, specifically over something crude or unclean in the territory. Further distinctions between the ureters and the bladder may come to light in the future.

Example:

A son brought some friends to his parents’ home. His mother was happy to welcome them but had a shock when they “overstepped their bounds” by taking over his room and sitting on his bed to chat. When they left, the mother manufactured a serious urinary infection.

Mrs. Z, who couldn’t throw away anything, was stressed every time she came home and saw the “bazaar” that piled up in her house. A friend of Mrs. Z’s made a remark about the mess to her, and Mrs. Z suddenly became aware of the mess in her territory. Shock. She went to a convent for a retreat and moved on to the healing phase: immediately she had blood in her urine.

Neuronal connections: Right temporal cortex (left ureter), left temporal cortex (right ureter); left ventrolateral position of the brain stem (bladder)

Embryologic origin: Ectoderm (ureters); endoderm (bladder)

BLADDER: MUCOSA

The mucosal layer is the deepest layer of tissue that comprises the wall of the urinary bladder.

The Felt Sense of the Biological Conflict

The leopard marks his territory of 30 sq. km every day with his urine. Like many animals, humans excrete hormones in their urine, which therefore includes data on sexual arousal. In this way, the “coloration” of a bladder conflict can be semi-sexual. Bladder conflicts develop in two distinct ways:

The right side of the bladder is the “female” half. Symptoms that affect this side of the bladder reflect conflicts of not being able to organize one’s territory or recognize the limits of one’s territory. There may be an inability to determine one’s position or get one’s bearings (as within a family structure).

The left side of the bladder is the male side. Symptoms in this region arise from conflicts around marking territory—defending territory from a rival. For example, a spouse may suffer this kind of conflict if the in-laws are always around at home or if a newly retired spouse is suddenly “underfoot” all the time. One patient was a property manager for a distinguished official. There were always people walking through her garden and she never felt at home.

Enuresis (bed-wetting) arises from conflicts of brutal separation that are linked to sexuality (the control of the sphincter is in the interhemispheric cortex). A little girl, for example, might experience such a conflict after the divorce of her parents. “Daddy won’t look after me anymore!” “I feel separated from my daddy!”

In traditional Chinese medicine the kidney is associated with the emotion of fear. For a child, if the territory is not felt to have been secured by the father, the child is afraid and becomes overstressed. The sphincter muscle that closes the bladder moves into sympathicotonia (falls under the dominance of the parasympathetic nervous system) and opens (in normotonia).

Examples:

Mrs. E had a bladder infection for two months, since her twenty-year-old daughter (who used to live at home) came back and returned to living in her childhood room. After her daughter’s initial departure (which she believed to be permanent), Mrs. E had moved into her daughter’s room to use it as a painting studio.

Since her daughter came back unexpectedly, Mrs. E was unable to organize her territory as she used to do, and she developed cystitis—an active conflict without a germ. She urinated often (to mark her territory).

When Mr. Q was sixty-five, his wife said to him, “Now look, we’re going to put your desk and your computer over there and we’ll have to get rid of this, and that . . .” Two hours later, three times in a row, Mr. Q had violent stabbing pains in the lower abdomen. That night he had severe difficulty urinating, accompanied by light, diffuse pain, which increased steadily the next day. Mr. Q became aware of the connection between his symptoms and what his wife had said to him. He explained this to her, taking all the necessary precautions so she didn’t feel blamed, and was able to move into a healing phase.

Neuronal connections: Female (right) half: left temporo-occipital cortex; male (left) half: right temporo-occiptital cortex; post-sensory cortex

Embryologic origin: Ectoderm