Bizarre fact: If you hold your pee for too long, you can die!

The knucklehead of whom we speak.

Urine is a liquid that comes from the kidneys and must be expelled by urinating. This seems like an idiot-proof process, but there are those who manage to mess it up by holding their pee for too long. Bizarrely enough, this can lead to death by uremia, so yes; you can hold your pee for so long that you die.

Most people would not be able to resist the urge to urinate for long enough to cause a problem. However, if you are able to hold it long enough, you can damage bladder and kidney functioning, making it matter very little if you finally bother to use the toilet. Gradual loss of kidney function will then lead to kidney failure, also known as renal failure.

You might be thinking, who would be so daft as to hold their urine for long enough that they die? You might also be thinking, who the hell would be able to do that without pissing himself? Surprisingly, that is bizarre has an answer. His name was Tycho Brahe.

Tycho Brahe was an upper class 16th century astronomer who was actually rather intelligent, in some ways. In other ways, he was a little on the nutty side. He kept an elk as a pet, but it died when it went to a party, got drunk and fell down the stairs. He lost his nose to a sword, though sources vary regarding how exactly that happened. Regardless, he wore a prosthetic metal nose most of his days thereafter. He needed his nose to keep up with all of his stargazing and partying.

One day in 1601, Tycho was attending a banquet when his body told him he should go take a leak. He ignored it . . ., ignored it . . ., and ignored it. He later claimed that he did not want to be rude by leaving the table. Well, he ruined his chances at taking another healthy piss for the rest of his life. At first, he could not urinate at all and he got sicker and sicker. Later, he could pee only a little and it was not comfortable. Then, he died, presumably from uremia.

There you have it - the bizarre story of the man who held it to death. Those of you who have seen "Liar, Liar" with Jim Carrey know that holding it can damage the prostate. Now you know you have bigger things to worry about. Next time you feel like you have to go, do it. Do it in your pants if you have to. Call it self-defense against your kidneys.